
MIRROR LAKE, YOSEMITE. 



NOTES 



OP 



WHAT I SAW, 



AND 



HOW I SAW IT: 



gk gottt &VOVIU& the World, 

INCLUDING 

CALIFORNIA, JAPAN, CHINA, MALACCA, CEYLON, INDIA, 
AEABIA, EUROPE, CUBA, AND MEXICO. 



LORING CONVERSE 



if SEP 29 1882 ) 



BUCYRUS, OHIO: 
FORUM STEAM PRINTING HOUSE 

1882. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1882, by 

LORING CONVERSE and J. H. WILLISTON, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



4«< 



TO 

JV[y Beloved ^ife, 

THE COMPANION OF MY TRAVELS, 

WHOSE KEEN OBSERVATION AND INTELLIGENT CRITICISM 

GAVE ADDITIONAL INTEREST TO THE 

NOVELTIES OF THE TOUR, 

€%is Book 

IS L.OYIHGL.Y DEDICATED. 



PREFACE. 



The author has no apology to make for placing this 
book before the public. The subjects with which it deals 
have, it is true, been treated by much more able pens 
than my own; but I hope and believe that some things 
will be found in the following pages that will both enter- 
tain and instruct the reader. I prefer, however, that the 
book shall either commend or damn itself. That it is 
freighted with imperfections, I am as fully aware as the 
most careful reader can be, but I trust that no part of 
the narrative is inaccurate. I have endeavored to tell 
the story of my tour of the world in plain language, with 
no attempt at embellishment, rhetorical or otherwise. 
The letters first appeared in the columns of the Bucyrus 
Forum, and, as their dates indicate, were written mainly 
amid the scenes to which they relate. Of course, little 
opportunity was had for leisurely and studied writing. 
They have been revised, not so much with the view of 
making material alterations, as for the purpose of correct- 
ing slight errors of statement that resulted from hurried 
preparation and the absence of opportunities for examin- 
ing frequently necessary references. In this revision, the 
author decided to retain the light and gossippy features 



6 PREFACE. 

which, though frequently commended in newspaper cor- 
respondence, are as often condemned when placed in 
book form before that usually capricious but seldom un- 
just critic, the public. To my mind works of travel are 
too often solemnly profound disquisitions upon abstruse 
theories, which weary the mind and bewilder the judg- 
ment, and from which the most courageous reader turns 
with distaste. In the following pages this learned pro- 
fundity has been carefully avoided. The author has 
sought, so far as in his power, to amuse and entertain, as 
well as instruct, happy in the belief that from every 
chapter something may be learned, and that the reader 
will not suffer from the temporary mental paralysis that 
usually follows learned dissertations, which few people 
read and fewer comprehend. 

It may seem that the tour was hurriedly made. Per- 
haps such a criticism would be just, to a limited extent. 
The reader is asked to remember that the facilities for 
travel have been so systematized that a circuit of the 
globe has become but a brief pleasure voyage. More 
time would have been devoted to Japan and India, had 
we been aware that an unkind and absurd decree of 
the Egyptian authorities would deprive us of the trip up 
the Nile, and a visit to the Holy Land, Constantinople, 
and Greece. This deviation from the original programme 
shortened our stay abroad more than two months, and 
deprived the tour of many of its most attractive features. 

The brief narrative of a tour through Cuba and Mexico, 
made two years since, will tend, I hope, in some degree 



PREFACE. 7 

at least, to arouse an interest in those countries, whose 

past is largely tradition and whose present is an unread 

chapter to American readers. Cuba and Mexico, our 

next door neighbors, are less familiar to our people than 

are the antipodes. 

Although a native Yankee, I can not consistently boast 

of accomplishments superior to others, and I ask only 

that the reader may treat this volume as the emanation 

of one who, in an unassuming manner, sought pleasure 

in making the circuit of the globe, and pleasure and 

profit combined in telling the public " What I Saw, and 

How I Saw It." 

LOEING CONVERSE. 
Bucyrus, Ohio, August 1, 1882. 



CONTENTS. 



i. 

PAGE. 

Introductory — The Cost op a Trip Around the World — 
Through New Mexico and Arizona to California — Perils 
prom the Indians — Deming, Tucson, and Fort Yuma — The 
Great Colorado Desert, . 17 

II. 

New Friends in California — The Guide to the Big Trees and 
Yosemite — The Outfit — The Trip — A Feminine Immigrant — 
The California Forests — A Guide's Practical Ideas — The 
Yosemite, 25 

III. 

The Big Trees op Mariposa — Some Ideas upon California 
Farming — Prospecting for Gold — A Theory of Interest to 
California Widows, 34 

IV. 

v 

From Madera to San Francisco — The Pacific Coast as a 
Farming Country — The Wheat Production — San Fran- 
cisco Hotels — Off for Japan, 41 

V. 

On the Pacific — Incidents of the Voyage — A Brief Disser- 
tation on the Chinese, Supplemented by an Unprofes- 
sional Treatise on Navigation — Arrival in Japan, .... 46 

9 



10 CONTENTS. 

VI 

PAGE. 

Japan and the Japanese — A Condensed Historical Sketch — 
The Curious Customs op a Curious People — Visit to the 
Temples near Yokohama — A Religion with an Ample Sup- 
ply of Gods, 53 

VII. 

Further op the Japanese — A Visit to Diabutz — The Tem- 
ples — A Japanese Hotel and Dinner — The City op Yoko- 
hama — Its Business and its People, 66 

VIII. 

From Yokohama to Yeddo — A Japanese Railroad — The Cap- 
ital and its People — Shopping in Yeddo — Visit to Shiba 
and the Tombs op the Tycoons — The Mikado's Castle — An 
Earthquake 80 

IX. 

Hiogo, Kioto, and the Vicinity— A Visit to Japan's Ancient 
Capital — More op the Temples and Hotels — A Japanese 
Cobbler and his Shop — The Cultivation 'op Tea and Rice — 
A Primitive Manner op Harvesting, 92 



Still in the Land op Japs — Osaka — Its Appearance and Sur- 
roundings — Observations upon the People and their Cus- 
toms — The Expenses of a Trip to the Mikado's Empire — 
Many Pleasures and some Drawbacks Attending it, . . . 104 

XI. 

Farewell to the Land of the Mikado — Visit to Nagasaki, 
and Sail for China — Interesting Historical Sketch of 
Japan — Its Religion, Resources, and Manufactures, ... 115 



CONTENTS. 11 

XII. 

PAGE. 

China and the Chinese — Arrival at Shanghai — Tour of the 
City — A Badly Disgusted Tourist — He Expresses a De- 
cided Opinion op the Celestials — The Filthiest Creatures 
on Earth, loo 

XIII. 

Shanghai to Hong Kong — Something of the Latter City — 
Chinese Filial Affection Illustrated— The Writer soon 
Satisfied with the Heathen — His Picture and those of 
Others Compared — A Brief Disquisition upon the Value 
of the Chinaman as a Citizen,- 144 

XIY. 

Hong Kong to Singapore — Scenes and Incidents of the Voy- 
age — The " Blarsted Britishers," and their Ideas of 
America — Singapore — Its People and Other Inhabitants — 
A Paralyzing Snake Story, 165 

XY. 

Penang and the Bengal Sea — Among the Natives — An Ob- 
tuse Driver who did n't understand his Business — The 
Need of a Universal Language — Malay Funeral Pro- 
cession — Liberal Provision for the Dead — Thanksgiving- 
day in the Tropics — Incidents of the Voyage, and Ar- 
rival in Ceylon, 168 

XYI. 

Ceylon and the Cingalese — Historical Sketch of the Isl- 
and — Its People — Natural Productions — A Veritable 
Earthly Paradise — Incidents of a Sojourn, 178 

XYII. 

Further of Ceylon — Trip to Colombo and Kandy — The 
Ancient and Modern Capitals — Something more of the 



12 CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Natives — Railroading in the Tropics — Some Disadvan- 
tages of a Residence, 191 

XVIII. 

Ceylon to Calcutta — A Novel but Luxurious Bath — Madras 
and the Native Hindoos — The Immorality op Foreigners 
in the Orient — One Reason why the Christian Missions 
are not more successful — the mouths of the ganges — 
Arrival at Calcutta, . x 207 

XIX. 

In the Indian Metropolis — The Impression of England upon 
its Architecture — Visit to the Botanical and Zoological 
Gardens — The Native City — Palace of the King of Oude — 
The Temples — Caste — A Pleasant Evening, 217 

XX. 

Calcutta to Benares — The " Holy City " of the Brahmins — 
Its Gorgeous Temples and Dirty Devotees — The Beastly 
Habits of the Native Fanatics — The Brahmin's Chance 
for the Future Philosophically Considered, 231 

XXI. 

lucknow, the real " clty of palaces " — its connection "with 
the Indian Mutiny — Visit to the American Mission, . . . 245 

XXII. 

From Lucknow to Cawnpore — The Scene of the Massacre of 
1857 — Agra, "The City of the Beautiful" — The Great 
Taj Mahal — One of the Wonders of the World — A Tomb 
that was Seventeen Years in Building, Occupying the 
Labor of Twenty Thousand Men, and Costing Eighteen 
Millions of Dollars, 253 



CONTENTS. 13 



XXIII. 

PAGE. 

Delhi — The Old Cities and the ~New — The Ancient Ruins — 
Kootub Minar — The Jumping Well — The Mosque op Jumna. 
Musjid — The Imperial Palace — The Peacock Throne — 
Delhi in the Mutiny — Social Life op the Hindoos, .... 270 

XXIV. 

The Tour op India Continued — The Author a Guest op Roy- 
alty — From Jeypoor to the Coast — Bombay and its Sur- 
roundings — The " Tower op Silence " — How the Parsees 
Dispose of their Dead — The Wonderful Temple on Ele- 
phanta Island — A Modification op Programme — Egypt, 
the Holy Land, Turkey, and Greece Cut Out, 283 

XXY. 

The Hindoos as a People — Their Social Customs — Religious 
Beliefs and Ceremonials — Self-inflicted Tortures and 
Sacrifices, 300 

XXYI. 

Farewell to India — Sail for Egypt — On the Arabian Sea — 
Religious Services at Sea — Arrival at Aden — Through 
the Red Sea — The Suez Canal — The Land op Promise For- 
bidden to the Tourists — Arrival at Brindisi, 313 

XXVII. 

Naples and Rome — The Ascent of Mount Vesuvius — An Un- 
pleasant Adventure with a Guide — Ramble among the 
Ruins of Pompeii — Rome and the Romans, Ancient and 
Modern — The Coliseum — St. Peter's— Wandering through 
the Catacombs, 328 

XXVIII. 

Through Italy to Germany — Pisa, Florence, Venice, Milan, 
Munich, and Heidelberg — Italian Hotel Keepers, and 



14 CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

their Dark Ways — Contrast between Italy and Ger- 
many — How our Deutsche Brethren Drink Beer, 347 

XXIX. 

Germany, Holland, London — The Trip Down the Bhine — A 
Short Tour through Holland — The Author in London — 
The Tower — Westminster Abbey, The Museum, Etc. — Why 
He did n't attend the Queen's Beception, 364 

XXX. 

Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast — A Visit to the Giant's Cause- 
way — Impressions in Ireland — Londonderry and the Voy- 
age across the Atlantic — Concluding Compliments to the 
"Blarsted Britishers," 382 

XXXI. 

At Home — A Besume of the Tour — Advice to Travelers — Ex- 
penses of a Trip Around the World — " Welcome Home," . 398 



Cuba and Mexico. 



I. 

Through the South to Cuba — Effects of the War upon the 
Southern Country and its Beople — In Florida — Voyage 
upon the St. John's Biver — Visit to a Negro Church — 
Distinguished Fellow-Fassengers — Grant's Beception at 
Havana, 407 

II. 

The Cubans and the Spaniards — Havana and its People — The 
Style of Architecture — The Parks — A Visit to the Ca- 
thedral — The Cuban Hotels, 414 



CONTENTS. 15 

III. 

PAGE. 

Mercantile Havana — The Market-men — Cuban Marriages — 
Temperance in Liquor — The Consumption op Tobacco — The 
Dairy-men — The National Amusements — Bull and Cock 
Fighting — A Visit to the Cemetery — The Lottery — Cuban 
Nobility, 419 

IV. 

Matanzas and Cardenas — Visit to a Sugar Plantation — The 
Process op Manufacture in Detail — Tobacco Culture — Neg- 
lected Agriculture — Why Cuba is not more Prosperous, . 427 

V. 

Farewell to Cuba — En Eoute to Mexico — Yucatan and its 
People — Arrival at Vera Cruz — A Disappointment — The 
Ancient City and its Inhabitants — The Cathedral — An Az- 
tec Temple — A Cock Fight — Off for the City of Mexico, . 432 

VI. 

From Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico — In the Capital — Its 
Appearance — The Streets, the Grand Plaza, the Palace, 
and the Cathedral — The Aztec Temple of Sacrifice — 
Dangers of the Capital — The Virgin of Guadalupe — A 
Fanatical Legend, 439 

VII. 

Puebla, Orizaba, and Cordova to Vera Cruz — A Bull Fight — 
The Old Inquisition at Puebla — The American Mission — 
Valley of Orizaba — Perpetual Snow in the Tropics — A 
Mexican Circus — An American Planter— Arrival at Vera 
Cruz — Sail for Home, 448 



I. 



Introductory — The Cost of a Trip Around the "World — Through 
New Mexico and Arizona to California — Perils from the 
Indians — Deming, Tucson, and Fort Yuma — The Great Col- 
orado Desert. 

Madera, C a l., September 8, 1881. 

Many things are requisite for a journey such as has 
been undertaken by myself and Mrs. Converse. First 
may be enumerated the pluck, the determination to over- 
come the obstacles which one will find springing in his 
path as plentiful almost as the cacti on the plains of Arizona. 
Second, a passport, money, and tickets. Of the latter 
named, the first and the last are very readily obtained if you 
are fortunately blessed with the second. With these and the 
blessings of Providence the trip which we have undertaken 
can readily be made. The blessing of Providence being 
in all things an essential, your readers will not be sur- 
prised to learn that, during my experience of the past few 
days, when I had some fear that Providence had deserted 
me for the time being, I felt more than a little discouraged. 
My money, passports, and tickets were all right, but my 
pluck and determination were more than once at the lowest 
ebb. But of this anon. 

In the following pages I shall write in plain, unvar- 
nished language, detailing, so far as may be, the daily ex- 
periences of an unassuming citizen, who travels for his 
own amusement and instruction, together with that of his 
companion. I ask the consideration of my readers, hoping 



18 WHAT I SA W, 

that they will feel no envy, for I can assure them that 
many of our experiences of the following nine months will 
not be of a character wholly enviable. If any one is dis- 
posed to imitate our example, they are welcome to follow 
in our tracks. I never left home before so reluctantly as 
this time, and think this will be my last trip out of the 
United States. Home and friends are dear to us, and we 
will never forget the friendly feelings shown toward us on 
our departure, and hope they may grow tenfold to greet 
us on our return. 

It may perhaps interest some of my readers to know what 
such a tour as that we have entered upon will cost, and 
for this reason I will enter upon details that under different 
circumstances I would omit. Foreign travel has, during 
the past few years, become so thoroughly systematized that 
a tour of the world no longer presents obstacles of great 
difficulty. We travel under the auspices of a company 
whose established business it is to throw a fatherly care 
and watchful guidance around those who, like ourselves, 
are tempted to wander in foreign lands. Of this com- 
pany, whose head-quarters are in London, we purchased 
tickets for the entire circuit of the globe, paying therefor 
three thousand and five hundred dollars, or one thousand 
seven hundred and fifty dollars each. This includes all 
travel on all waters and expenses up the Nile, and through 
the Holy Land for thirty days, leaving one hundred and 
twenty-six days out of two hundred and sixty for us to pay 
hotel bills, carriage hire, guides, etc. I have a letter of 
credit with which I can step into any bank in the world 
and draw a check, that the bank at home picks up and 
charges to me. The probable cost of these one hundred 
and twenty-six days is one thousand two hundred and 
sixty dollars. 

We left Bucyrus September 1, 1881, on time (and will 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 19 

try the round trip to work to it), and went via Chicago to 
Kansas City, and thence by sundry and devious ways which 
I will briefly describe to this place. We were warned that 
travel through New Mexico and Arizona was unsafe, and 
this is the reason why our tour through that delectable section 
partook of the nature of a flying trip. I often wished we had 
been able to transform it into a literal aerial passage. 
Through Kansas we had most of the way the " hot winds/' 
and those who have only read of them can form but a 
slight idea of the blasts. In some places it was hot as — 
the hottest kitchen you ever saw. The settlements along 
the line are more numerous than over the Denver route. 
We passed along the banks of the Arkansas River, the bed 
of which is but little lower than the land. As far as the 
eye can reach the country has the appearance of dreary 
desolation. Near the Colorado line we crossed over the 
river and passed south-west over much the same kind of 
country, through Trinidad, Colorado, to Ratoun, New 
Mexico, for breakfast. At Ratoun we began to touch the 
mountains, and the scenery underwent a striking trans- 
formation ; the wearying stretch of desolate plains gave 
way to the bold elevations of the foot-hills, and in the 
background rose the towering peaks of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. The valleys between the foot-hills are quite fertile, 
and are well covered with sheep and cattle, of which there 
seemed to be countless thousands. These lands look much 
more inviting than any in Kansas. I have now been through 
Kansas in nearly every part, and each time I become more 
and more disgusted. The country through New Mexico 
as far south as Las Vegas is beautiful. At that point we 
begin to strike a high altitude. My instrument marked 
six thousand seven hundred and fifty feet, with the ther- 
mometer at seventy degrees. The valley is five thousand 
feet above the level of the sea. We had intended to spend 



20 WHAT I SAW, 

a day at Albuquerque, but as the Indians bad a short time 
previously held the place for a few days, we were only 
too glad to give the town a not very regretful " go-by," 
escorted as Ave happily were by a car-load of United States 
troops for Fort Wingate. The country from Albuquerque 
is all the way very unsafe, and we were so told by the 
railroad officials. For one hundred miles south we were 
threatened with Indian raids. On the way to the Rio 
Grande we all carried our lives in our hands, as the saying 
is, and I could name at least two of the travelers who are 
profoundly thankful and perhaps a little surprised that they 
continue to retain theirs. Finally we reached Deming, at the 
south-west corner of New Mexico. There were six of us for 
California, and at this point we talked much of going north 
to Denver, and from thence over the Central railroad, but 
Salutha, my worthy companion for many years, put an 
emphatic veto upon any such proceeding. " We will go 
through !" said she, and we went. Now, I am free to con- 
fess that I was afraid, desperately afraid. I started out 
for a trip of quiet enjoyment, not to hunt Indians, nor, for 
that matter, to have them hunt me. We crossed the Rio 
Grande a little north of Deming. As far as the eye could 
range nothing was to be seen but a vast area of marsh, 
followed as we progressed by flinty gravel — good for nothing 
whatever, unless it be back in the mountains, where valu- 
able minerals no doubt abound. 

Deming is ten weeks old, has . a population of about 
one hundred and fifty, who are ruled in a way peculiar 
to frontier villages. In this case the absolute ruler is a 
desperado who keeps a saloon and boasts of the number 
of men he has killed. He bears the name of Colonel 
Bocie, aged twenty-seven, and is the most desperate white 
savage in the entire valley. One way he has of amusing 
himself is to gather the cow-boys and lead them into Old 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 21 

Mexico (thirty miles), and drive off every thing they want. 
I would not risk my life in Deming over night. The 
railroad company have a splendid station, and the road 
is now done to El Paso, and will soon he finished to San 
Antonio, Texas. This is the Southern Pacific proper. The 
desperadoes are as much to be feared as the Indians, and 
the railroad officers admit that if there are not more than 
one or two killed a week every body congratulates his 
neighbor upon the growing peace and quiet of the place. 
The territorial jury bring in a verdict of " suicide." Sui- 
cides are never very pleasant subjects to contemplate, and 
I hope I may be preserved from forming the subject of a 
grim and humorous New Mexican coroner's jury. 

The railroad company provided each of us with a 
Winchester rifle and fifty rounds of ammunition, and we left 
Deming for Tucson, Arizona, having to pass for two hun- 
dred miles through the hostile Indian country, where they 
are now on the war-path, two thousand warriors strong, 
and near to the late massacre. All armed as we were, I 
did not feel even a little bit safe, and would willingly, 
eagerly have exchanged my whole military outfit and pro- 
spective glory for one glimpse of the dusty streets and 
umbrageous shades of peaceful Bucyrus. It cooled my 
ardor for travel more than a little. But my partner 
wanted to go, and it would not have looked masculine in 
me to say no. Every once in a while the interest which 
I did n't feel in going ahead was greatly increased by the 
reports of army officers whom we met. All agreed that 
there was great danger, and for my part I was willing to 
omit investigation. 

We passed on through, however, safely to Tucson, 
though every mile was pregnant with peril, and we could 
almost see over the mountains where the massacre lately 
took place. I would have stopped a few days in New 



22 WHAT I SAW, 

Mexico and Arizona, but, under the circumstances, there 
was little that I cared to see. 

Tucson is quite a fine place, of perhaps two thousand 
inhabitants, Mexicans and whites, but the interest in the 
country which we had lost away over in New Mexico not 
having yet returned, we pushed on toward a land where 
safety beckoned us. 

From Tucson to Fort Yuma the scenery is grand, but 
the soil is good for nothing, except cactus and Indians. 
The road passes along the Gila River and thence to the 
Colorado. Very little grading has been necessary, and I 
little wonder that they were able to lay the track at the 
rate of four miles per day. On each side of the railroad 
the ground is covered with beautiful cactus, now in 
bloom. My experience in Mexico taught me that wher- 
ever the cactus is found the soil is wholly worthless. I 
had well read up the Southern Pacific railroad survey by 
the government, and was ready to find just such a country 
as we did. 

Fort Yuma is but a small village, set down on a sand- 
bank by the Colorado and Gila Rivers. It is distant from 
the Gulf of California about ninety miles, and is about 
upon a level with the sea. It is warm. I use that term 
in its full significance, but perhaps my readers will be 
able to more fully grasp my meaning if I say it is insuffer- 
ably hot. At Yuma we took breakfast, and entered the 
Great Colorado Desert, which is four hundred and eighty 
miles long and from ten to one hundred wide. Such a 
picture of desolation the imagination of man can not com- 
prehend. No one can realize just what a desert is until 
he has visited this spot, so lonely, so desolate, so barren 
that even God himself seems to have deserted it. The 
heat is at all times intense, ranging when we passed over 
from one hundred and ten to one hundred and twenty-five 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 23 

degrees. How the survey was ever made through this re- 
gion is a mystery to me. I do not see how men or animals 
could endure it. Nature was not satisfied apparently with 
the usual discomforts, and when we were passing through, 
a sand-storm was arranged, perhaps for our particular 
benefit. I will not risk my reputation by attempting a 
description of a storm of inconceivable violence, where 
fine particles of burning hot sand and alkali took the place 
of ordinary meteorological elements, penetrating every 
crevice, scorching the skin and irritating the mucous and 
bronchial membranes until existence ceased to be a comfort. 
The stations along the road are all small, and each has 
a double roof, one about a foot above the other, thus pro- 
viding some protection from the heat. Quite often there 
are placed against the telegraph poles a mysterious appear- 
ing box. The meaning of this was explained when our 
train operator got out and, attaching his battery to the 
wire within this box, sent a message to the outer world, 
notifying them perhaps that we were still alive, which in- 
formation could have scarcely been either as satisfactory 
or as surprising to them as to us. At one such place 
we saw a newly made grave, where some foolish emigrant 
had endeavored to cross this great American Sahara. The 
wheel tracks were still fresh appearing, but the companion 
of the venturesome traveler had gone to rest. I thought 
as I gazed upon the grave, of the expectations and hopes 
that beat within the breast beneath, of the life-struggles 
that carried him onward in the battle of existence, finally 
to find surcease and eternal rest beneath the sands of the 
Colorado Desert. A board driven in at the head and the 
foot of the grave alone mark the resting place of the 
sleeper, who there, far from human habitation, in a region 
shunned even by the prowling coyote and the carrion-fed 
birds of the air, awaits the sound which shall bid us all arise. 



24 WHAT I SAW, 

We thank our God we have passed over the road in 
safety. All the officials of the line were kind and courteous, 
and the scenery, except the desert, is grand. When the 
Indian troubles are ended it will be the favorite Winter 
route to California. 

. We arrived at Los Angeles Wednesday evening at G 
P. M. As we had both been there in 1876, and had then 
written up its points of attraction, we only stopped to 
secure a bag full of oranges, peaches, and grapes, for which 
I paid but " two bits." We continued on to this place, a 
very small town, clean and neat, ninety miles from the Big 
Trees. I am now waiting for our driver and guide to get 
ready for the trip to the Yosemite, for which we will start 
to-morrow (Friday) morning, intending to be gone six 
days. 

I am an old enough traveler to know that stages are a 
curse to travelers, inasmuch as they are simply a legalized 
system of brigandage, where a wayfarer is robbed with as 
little ceremony and much more certainty than by the 
" road agents." Consequently we shall make an independ- 
ent trip to the Big Trees and Yosemite. It will cost us 
about half what it would to travel by the stage line. I 
have just made a contract for a driver and guide, good 
team and good vehicle, for six days, in and out, for sixty- 
six dollars for two of us. We pay nothing extra except 
board and beds. The usual fare is, or has been, ninety 
dollars each. 

We wish to return here this day week (Thursday), and 
go to San Francisco on the 15th, from whence we will sail 
on the 17th. 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 25 



II. 



Nett Friends in California — The Guide to the Big Trees and 
. Yosemite — The Outfit — The Trip — A Feminine Immigrant — 
The California Forests — A Guide's Practical Ideas — The 
Yosemite. 

Madera, Cal., September ij, 1881. 

Although this letter is dated at this point (the same 
where my last was penned), it is really composed of frag- 
ments hastily, and may be a little carelessly thrown to- 
gether at odd times during our trip from here to the Big 
Trees and Yosemite and return, occupying a week. 

Before, however, entering upon the details of the trip, 
I can not resist the temptation to speak of some friend- 
ships we have formed among the good people of this town. 
There are bright oases in the tour of life which can readily 
be found and keenly enjoyed by all who seek for them. I 
have found many in my wanderings; have formed many 
pleasant and valuable acquaintances — true men and women, 
Avho exhibit an unmistakable pleasure in adding to the 
comfort and enjoyment of others. One of the most con- 
spicuous of these is mine host Mace, landlord of the Mace 
Hotel at this place — a jolly, fat, good-natured fellow, weigh- 
ing about four hundred pounds, with a heart that will weigh 
six hundred more. He literally compels his guests to feel 
at home, and they part from him always with regret and 
the hope that kind fortune may throw them into contact 
with many more like him. We also formed the acquaint- 
ance of the postmaster, one of the ubiquitous Ohio men. 
His name is Moore^ and he hails from Belleville — almost 



26 WHAT I SAW, 

close enough for a Bucyrian to call him a neighbor. He 
is one of the old " forty-niners/' having come to California 
thirty-two years ago. We accepted an invitation, and 
spent a few very pleasant hours at his house, in company 
with himself and estimable lady. Every thing possible 
was done by these friends to make our stay pleasant, and 
we can assure them that we will carry away with us many 
pleasurable recollections of their kindness. 

We were very fortunate in our selection of a guide to 
the Big Trees and the Yosemite, having secured a faithful 
young Scotchman named Denny, whom I cheerfully com- 
mend to all who may pass this way. I speak of this more 
particularly, because an honest and faithful guide is not to 
be picked up every day. We started from Madera on 
Friday morning last, after a good, substantial breakfast, 
and with every premonition of a pleasant trip. A part 
of our baggage we left behind, and of course some things 
that we failed to bring along are just what we need the 
most ; my paper, for instance, and now I am writing these 
notes away up on the mountain, on paper which I was 
compelled to beg of a fellow-tourist. Our outfit consisted 
of a driver and guide, vested in one person, a heavy 
spring wagon, with a good top for shelter, and baggage 
limited to the probable necessities of the trip. Thus we 
began our ride of ninety miles. Thirty miles out we 
stopped at a fig ranch, a small wood cottage, surrounded 
by an extensive fig orchard. Under one of these trees I 
am now seated, endeavoring to fit together a connected 
account of oar experiences, while the mercury in the 
thermometer dances recklessly about in the nineties. The 
old lady who presides over this ranch has been the victim 
of experiences, pleasant and otherwise, which would fill a 
volume and be as entertaining as a novel. She was born 
in Missouri, several years ago ; moved to Texas when quite 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 27 

young, and endured the dangers and hardships of life on 
the border there for six years. In 1853 she started for 
California, in a train of thirty-two wagons, and was nine 
months on the way, having passed over a part of Old 
Mexico and then through the great Colorado Desert. 
After listening to her story of the trip across the desert, 
the hardships which we encountered in a palace car sank 
into infinitesimally small proportions. Doubtless, how- 
ever, the inconveniences she experienced were not really 
much greater to her than ours were to us. There is 
much in being used to such things, I guess. I am not 
accustomed to traveling, armed like a pirate, as a possible 
protection against probable Indians, and I have not the 
least desire to become inured to it. Consequently, I hereby 
file my earnest, though perhaps not very effective, protest 
against Indians in general, and those pesky red-skins who 
roam around searching for scalps in particular. 

In the country which we are now passing through, 
game is abundant and of various kinds. Bear, deer, and 
antelope abound, with also a seemingly unlimited supply 
of snakes, tarantulas, and other unpleasant " varmints." 
This is an excellent country to "rise in the world." "We 
have been rising ever since we left Madera, and are now 
considerably elevated. For the night we stop at a ranch 
located twenty-one hundred and fifty feet above the sea- 
level. The lady who keeps the place is from near Mans- 
field. She "knows how to keep a hotel," and provided 
for our wants with all the liberality and kindness for 
which Ohio people the world over are justly distinguished. 

Like most of his kind, our guide, Denny, is a genius. 
There were but three of us in the wagon, myself, wife, and 
Denny, and the latter regaled us by the hour with stories 
of adventure in the early days of California, when lawless- 
ness was the rule and peaceful industry the exception. 



28 WHAT 1 SAW, 

Denny was on more than one occasion the victim of " road 
agents," and in his quaint manner gave us the details of 
his adventures, harrowing up our souls, and forcing our 
imagination into seeing in every tree the horrid form of a 
blood-thirsty Mexican highwayman, and transformed the 
rustic of a leaf into the stealthy tread of a pesky Indian. 
I was tempted to assume the role of a hero, and relate my 
recent adventure with the Indians in New Mexico, but 
Salutha dampened my ardor by quietly declaring that she 
could not see any thing heroic about it. Strange how un- 
apprcciative some women are, isn't it? One point that 
my friend Denny made as a sort of an appendix to a par- 
ticularly hair-raising story struck mc very forcibly. He 
says a man may be as courageous as a lion and as nimble 
as a cat, but if there is any one place or any circumstance 
under which courage and agility are of no possible valua- 
tion, it is when two " road agents/' who would be only 
too glad of an excuse to murder you, are standing, each 
with a cocked pistol shoved in your ear. Denny says the 
most daring man that ever lived would suddenly become 
as weak and docile as a lamb, and I agree with him. I 
know I would. What Salutha would do, I can not say, 
though she would probably make some remark calculated 
to lower the robber's opinion of himself. 

On Saturday morning we resumed our tedious ascent 
of the great Sierra Nevadas. At the end of thirty miles 
we found that we were four thousand six hundred feet 
above some other people in the world, and that during 
the last score and a half of miles we had risen two thou- 
sand three hundred and fifty feet, or nearly one hundred 
feet to the mile. The heat continues intense, even at this 
altitude, reaching ninety degrees. The road winds won- 
derfully, over and around the mountains, passing through 
some famous pine groves and parks. The scenery is one 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 29 

grand panorama of startling effects, upon which the eyes 
could apparently feast with ever growing enjoyment. 
These trees are remarkable specimens of the handiwork 
of nature, ranging in immensity far beyond even the 
imagination of those who have never seen them. As yet, 
understand, we have not reached the Big Trees proper. 
These that are now before us, though many of them ten 
feet in diameter and running up as straight as an arrow 
from one to two hundred feet before a limb is reached, 
are mere arborial pigmies compared with what we are 
promised further on. In looking at these trees, my mind 
naturally took a practical turn, and I fancied for a moment 
myself the possessor of a few acres of such timber within 
reach of a railroad. It was an unreasonable fancy, how- 
ever, for the celebrated railroad to the moon, projected, I 
believe, by that eminent civil engineer, Jules Verne, was 
no more chimerical than would be a scheme to build a 
railroad to the Big Trees of California. The land, how- 
ever, trees and all, is dirt cheap, and can be purchased in 
any quantity desired for one dollar and twenty-five cents 
per acre. 

On Saturday evening at 6 o'clock we arrived at Clark's 
Ranch, six miles from the Big Trees, and twenty-eight 
from the Yosemite Valley. Here we enjoyed a night's 
good rest, in comfortable beds, and early on Sunday morn- 
ing started over our last "stage" for the Valley. Still 
the road continued to rise up before us, and the twenty- 
eight miles carried us two thousand two hundred feet 
higher, and then down a fearful, nerve-shattering descent 
of four thousand five hundred and thirty feet into the 
Valley. Your readers need not expect me to enter upon 
a florid description of the manifold wonders of this re- 
markable handiwork of nature, nor do I believe that the 
pen of man has ever yet approximated the justice which 



30 WHAT I SAW, 

the subject demands. I have read much of the grandeur, 
the immensity, and the startling effects of the Yosemite 
scenery, but the most complete, the most minute descrip- 
tion, where the reader can not but feel that the writer's 
enthusiasm has transcended his judgment, is so far short 
of the reality, as it bursts suddenly upon the view, as to 
seem insipid and incomplete. 

The view from Inspiration Point, from whence the eye 
reaches to the depths below, through the Valley, resting 
for a moment upon the cliffs that rise perpendicularly from 
the level beneath, and tracing the meanderings of the 
Merced River, looking at its great depth like a ribbon of 
silver, is nowhere on earth exceeded for entrancing gran- 
deur. From this point is obtained the most comprehensive 
view. The whole valley lies before you, and you are en- 
abled to form a more nearly correct idea of its immensity 
than can elsewhere be secured. One can almost wish that 
the impression upon the retina might remain forever, and 
that the scene could continue constantly before him. 

The descent is accompanied by a degree of peril, more 
imaginary, perhaps, than real, that detracts much from the 
interest of the scene. Gradually objects in the valley be- 
neath assume more definite form. The dark and ill- 
defined shapes are transformed into groves of trees ; the 
river grows with the descent until it becomes a stream of 
respectable dimensions, and finally, with a long-drawn 
breath of relief, the tourist finds himself at the basis of 
the cliff, and whirling along through the valley to the 
hotel. At Leidig's, a pleasant place of entertainment 
nestled close beneath the towering form of Sentinel Rock, 
we were liberally provided with the comforts of physical 
existence, and in a short time were prepared to feast our 
wonderment upon the scenes that leave nothing to the 
imagination of the most speculative mind. As I stood in 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 31 

front of the hotel and, by a sweep of the eye, felt the im- 
pressions of this the grandest and most sublime of nature's 
earthly handiwork, my practical mind fell into the channel 
of speculation upon the causes which led to the formation 
of the Yosemite Valley. Was it a part of the original 
plan of the great Creator, or is it the result of some great 
terrestrial upheaval ? If the latter, what were the causes 
that led to the formation of this mighty chasm, this sink- 
ing to a depth of more thau four thousand feet of a tract 
which is six miles in length and from a half mile to a 
mile in width? These reflections were but momentary, 
however, and my thoughts returned to an appreciation of 
the fact that more pleasure was to be found in endeavor- 
ing to conceive the realities of the present than in specu- 
lating upon the theories of the past. The walls on both 
sides, and throughout the extent of the valley, are perpen- 
dicular, in some parts seeming to project over. The Mer- 
ced River is a stream of no inconsiderable volume, and in 
the Spring of the year, when the snows are melting in the 
mountains above, it increases to the dimensions of a tor- 
rent. The river enters the valley by two successive falls, 
one of six hundred and the other four hundred feet, and 
traverses the valley from the upper end to the lower, 
where it passes out through a rugged gorge, with perpen- 
dicular walls thousands of feet in height. It can be truth- 
fully said that there are no features of superior attractive- 
ness in the valley, and the tourist would hesitate long 
before he would award the palm — whether he could find 
more to arouse his awe and admiration in the gigantic El 
Capitan, which towers four thousand six hundred feet 
above the level of the valley, or in the score or more of 
lofty battlements whose summits pierce the clouds and 
look down from their dizzy heights of nearly a mile. 
Sentinel Hock, over-topping the hotel, is three thousand 



32 WHAT I SAW, 

and forty-three feet in height. On the opposite side of 
the valley, and perhaps a mile to the eastward, is the 
North Dome, a gigantic mass of gray granite, rising like 
a vast wall formed by human hands to a height of three 
thousand five hundred and sixty-eight feet. Across a 
minor arm or branch of the valley from the North Dome 
is a peculiar formation, called from its shape the Half 
Dome, the height of which is four thousand seven hundred 
and thirty-seven feet. It has the appearance of a section 
of a vast dome which has been split perpendicularly 
through the center, and with but one-half of the original 
remaining. Opposite El Capitan is a collection of spire- 
like formations known as the Cathedral Rocks. It does 
not require a violent expansion of the imagination to pic- 
ture these, with the lower elevations contiguous, as a vast 
church. From this peculiarity is the name derived. 

These mountain elevations, while grandly picturesque, 
are fully equaled in attractiveness by the falls which, in dif- 
ferent parts of the valley, pour the waters in greater or less 
volume from the mountains above. Among these is the Bri- 
dal Veil, where the water of a small stream falls over the 
perpendicular rock a thousand feet in height and is blown 
about by the wind in its descent until it forms in folds of 
fleecy lace-like appearance. The Vernal Fall is formed by a 
branch of the Merced River, a stream of considerable vol- 
ume, falling over the rocks four hundred feet without a 
break. Further up the same stream, a distance of perhaps 
half a mile, over a tortuous, rock-strewn path, past a suc- 
cession of cascades, is the Nevada Fall. At this point the 
scene is one which no pen can fitly describe. The stream 
pours in a dense mass from the edge of the rocks above, a 
distance of six hundred feet, and dashes into a mass of 
spray at your feet. In standing near the foot of this fall 
and looking upward, the water seems to pour from the 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 33 

clouds. The outline of the ledge where the mass of water 
appears to pause for a moment as if hesitating before 
making the terrific leap, is but dimly defined, and seems 
like a dark mass of storm-threatening cloud. One of the 
features of the valley is Mirror Lake, which lies between 
the North Dome and Half Dome. It is a small collection 
of wonderfully pure and transparent water, the surface of 
which is as smooth as glass, and derives its name from the 
distinctness with which the surroundings are reflected in its 
depths. The reflections of North Dome and Half Dome 
are as clear and well-defined as if photographed upon the 
water, and, reversed as they necessarily are, they present 
a picture that of itself is worth a visit to the Yosemite to 
see. We were fortunate in arriving in time to see the sun 
rise. At the moment for the orb to make its appearance 
above the rugged top of Half Dome our eyes were bent 
upon the reflection in the water beneath. Gradually the 
reflection, away down, seemingly thousands of feet beneath 
us, became lighted up, a golden crescent spanned the fig- 
ure, and suddenly the sun burst forth from its hiding and 
lighted the waters below up to our feet. It was a sight 
which once seen can never be forgotten. Like every thing 
else in the valley, it must be seen to even approximate an 
appreciation. 

My impressions of the valley would be difficult to de- 
scribe. They were various, combined perhaps of awe- 
stricken admiration for the stupendous works of nature, 
and accrued pity for the little, conceited biped who struts 
his brief hour upon the stage of life, and, dignified with 
the image of his Maker, presumes to cavil at the works of 
the Almighty. One hour in the Yosemite Valley is cal- 
culated to lessen materially a thinking man's estimate of 
himself and largely increase his admiration of that Archi- 
tect who constructed the gigantic work before him. 

3 



34 WHAT I SAW, 



III. 



The Big Trees of Mariposa— Some Ideas Upon California Farm- 
ing — Prospecting for Gold — A Theory of Interest to Cali- 
fornia Widows. 

Madera, Cal., September 16, 1881. 

My last letter, of which this is really a part, left us in 
the Yosemite Valley, viewing with admiration the gigan- 
tic works of nature, whose counterpart can not be found 
on earth. I have stood upon the Alps in Switzerland, and 
gazed awe-stricken upon the wondrous scenery of Mont 
Blanc and the Matterhorn; I have feasted my eyes, en- 
tranced by the majesty of the Mexican Cordilleras, but 
nothing that Switzerland or Mexico can produce equals in 
gigantic grandeur the Valley of Yosemite. It was with a 
feeling of genuine regret that we finally turned our backs 
upon the valley and started for the Mariposa Big Trees, 
stopping for the night at Clark's (now Washburn's) Ranch. 
The next morning (Tuesday) we visited the Big Trees, six 
miles from the ranch. These wonders of nature have been 
so often and so thoroughly written up that there is little 
I could say that would be likely to interest. There are 
about four hundred trees in the grove, and they are a sight 
which will repay the visitor for the many inconveniences 
he must encounter in reaching them. One of the trees 
has been cut through to allow vehicles to pass. In this 
way an idea of its immensity can be formed. A stage to 
which four horses are attached can pass through the aper- 
ture with ease, the heads of the leaders not being through 
when the rear of the vehicle has passed within. This may 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 35 

seem like an exaggeration, but it is an absolute fact. We 
walked around the grove, and examined minutely the dif- 
ferent giants. One tree had fallen, perhaps more than a 
hundred years ago, and is still in an excellent state of 
preservation. By means of a ladder we mounted the 
huge trunk and walked the length of it, more than two 
hundred feet. An ordinary four-horse road wagon could 
easily be driven the whole distance. The antiquity of 
these giants of the forest is almost beyond intelligent com- 
putation, but the annular rings forming the trunk of the 
recumbent monster have been counted by some curious 
individual blessed with a liberal endowment of patience, 
and they were found to number more than six thousand. 
How long since, the tree was felled is, of course, unknown, 
but is supposed to be not less than two hundred years. 
The wood of the trees is of light texture, its specific grav- 
ity being no greater than cedar, which it resembles in 
appearance. It is said to more successfully resist decay 
than does cedar, and this resistance is assigned as one evi- 
dence of the great time that has elapsed since the tree was 
felled. At one or two points it has commenced to decay. 
Another suggestion is found in the growth of other trees 
that have evidently, from their position, sprung into exist- 
ence since the huge monster was torn up by the roots. Thus 
it appears that this particular tree is considerably more than 
six thousand years old. The mind can scarcely realize it. 
If we accept the story of man's creation, as laid down in 
the book of Genesis, this tree had passed the adolescence of 
shrubhood when the archangel Michael served the summary 
writ of ejectment that deprived our foreparents of the de- 
lights of Paradise. This recumbent giant was of massive 
growth when the lightnings of the Almighty played about 
the summit of Mt. Sinai and the law was delivered to Moses, 
and was a monarch of the forest when Christ taught his 



36 WHAT I SAW, 

disciples and laid the foundation of the material and 
spiritual blessings that have rested as a benison upon the 
civilized world. Further evidence of the great anti- 
quity of these trees can be found in the fact that they are 
of exceedingly slow growth. A friend tells me that at the 
Calaveras grove, some miles from the Mariposa group, a 
small shrub has been carefully watched and protected 
during the past seventeen years, and in that time it has 
grown not to exceed two feet. On one of the largest of 
the trees in Calaveras county are marks of fire ; the sides 
of the monster are scarred by the effects of the flames. 
Standing close by is a tree of smaller growth, but evidently 
not less than a thousand years old, that bears no such 
marks. Evidently the fire by which the larger tree suf- 
fered occurred more than ten centuries ago. I have heard 
a theory advanced by geologists concerning these trees 
that is curious if not valuable. It is to the effect that 
these Sequoia gigantea composed the original flora of this 
part of the earth, and that the specimens extant were pre- 
served from the effects of the terrestrial upheaval that 
destroyed all the others. The theory, like most other pet 
ideas of these students of the speculative, is explained at 
length in a manner calculated to mystify and bewilder the 
hearer rather than instruct him. As with other theories 
which they advance, they succeed best in proving that 
they do not know any thing about it. 

We finally bid the giants adieu and descended from 
those upper regions until we reached the town of Fresno, 
a peculiar little place where many peculiar things are done 
in peculiar ways. We stopped there an hour, to feed the 
team, and I assure you those sixty minutes were quite long 
enough for me. Salutha, however, with that chilling in- 
difference to disagreeable surroundings which distinguishes 
many of the perverse sex, absolutely enjoyed it. During 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 37 

the hour we remained there we witnessed a court scene 
which would have appealed irresistibly to the sense of the 
ridiculous possessed by Mark Twain or Bret Harte. A 
Spanish woman, whose knowledge of the English language 
was as limited as the court's notion of Spanish, was arrested 
on the charge of selling liquor to the Indians. In Cali- 
fornia murder is considered a virtue compared with fur- 
nishing liquor to Indians, and I believe the statutes of 
the State make it a felony. The court-house is a rough 
structure, about twelve feet square, the walls of pine slabs 
and the roof of unevenly split clapboards. The judge 
was the proud proprietor of a neighboring gambling hell, 
and the six jurymen about equally divided between saloon- 
keepers and miners, who, in slouch hats, top-boots, and 
overalls, deliberated as solemnly if not as learnedly as a 
Marshall or a Bacon. The poor defendant had no lawyer, 
and I was half tempted to enlist in her behalf myself, but 
my limited knowledge of the law was only equaled by my 
inability to speak the poor woman's language. The guide's 
warning that time was up and we must be on the way 
caused us to forego a knowledge of the verdict, but I have 
not the least doubt that the defendant was duly convicted 
and appropriately punished. The court was evidently or- 
ganized for the purpose of conviction, and my sympathies, 
even when combined with those of my worthy partner, did 
not seem to have any weight. 

We passed on forty miles further, where we stopped for 
the night at a ranch known as Coarse Gold Gulch. The 
bed of the creek in the vicinity was at one time a " big 
bonanza" for placer mining, but has long since been 
worked out, although there is still gold found sometimes 
in limitedly paying quantities. Several profitable mines 
are located in the vicinity. As a matter of fact, however, 
there is more gold in the timber of the Sierras than there 



38 WHAT I SAW, 

is in the soil, if it was only possible to get it to market. 
Such timber can not be found elsewhere in the world, but 
unfortunately it is as inaccessible almost as the products 
of the mountains in the moon. During our recent trip 
we saw enough timber of excellent quality rotting on the 
ground to run every saw-mill in Christendom for a year. 
The fact that we were provided with a private conveyance 
gave us many advantages over other tourists. "We moved 
at our leisure and enjoyed the opportunity for viewing 
scenery, collecting curiosities, etc., that travelers by public 
conveyances are denied. 

On the way down the mountains we passed numberless 
ranches well stocked with sheep and cattle, and occasionally 
hogs. All the stock seemed in prime condition, and I was 
very favorably impressed with the value of the foot-hills 
of the Sierras as a stock country. The sheep shearing now 
is in full progress. One ranch we visited had a stock of 
one hundred thousand sheep, from which was taken half 
a million pounds of wool. You Ohio farmers who own 
flocks of four or five hundred would be considered but 
small stock men in this region. Wool commands from 
ten to fourteen cents per pound. This seems like a small 
price, but it must be remembered that the expense of rais- 
ing sheep in this country amounts to little or nothing. 
The stock does not require any housing or feeding, the 
pasture being ample at all seasons. Besides, in California 
two clips of wool are made each year. The one ranch of 
which I am speaking will this year produce more pounds 
of wool than many counties in the State of Ohio. 

In the foot-hills we found many Digger Indians, some 
of whom are the owners of small ranches, and seem to 
have absorbed a modicum of civilization. Intermarried 
with these Indians are quite a number of the old " forty- 
niners." Salutha suggested, and I here announce that she 



AND HO W 1 SAW IT. 39 

alone is responsible for the idea, that perhaps in this 
curious amalgamation can be found the real reason why 
the families of so many of the earlier California emigrants 
never heard from them afterward. It must be a pleasing 
reflection for such to think that perhaps the husband and 
father whom they have mourned as dead for many years 
is the head of a large and interesting family of half-breed 
papooses, among the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevadas. I 
know there are many such families thereabout, but whether 
the heads are stray husbands from "the States," I, of 
course, am unable to say. 

On the way down from the mountain we passed several 
gold diggings, and had our cupidity aroused by seeing a 
man pick up on the bank of a creek a lump valued at 
$7.50. My companion at once became imbued with the 
idea that there was a fortune within her grasp, and would 
not be content until we had started out on a prospecting 
tour. I tried to discourage her, but I might have known 
better. She can 't be discouraged. During the last twenty- 
five years I have made several efforts, and my word for it 
it can not be done. So we started. The first disagreeable 
adventure was the discovery of a tarantula, as big as a 
saucer, almost, on my lady's hat. This dampened the 
ardor of her thirst for gold a little, but the climax was 
reached when she stepped upon a pesky rattlesnake. Now, 
she has as great a distaste for snakes as I have for Indians, 
and the gold prospecting expedition was suddenly aban- 
doned. Hunting gold may be pleasant enough, but find- 
ing rattlesnakes is decidedly objectionable. Having slaked 
our thirst for crude gold, we again called into service the 
ever faithful and always ready Denny, and passed on to 
the fig ranch mentioned in my last, where we feasted roy- 
ally on figs while listening to several additional chapters 
in the life history of the loquacious landlady. The afore- 



40 WHAT I SAW, 

said landlady" is a wonderful woman, and no mistake. If 
all the stories she tells are truthful, Sinbad the Sailor was 
a " country bumpkin " compared with her. If they are 
not true, she is still a remarkable woman, possessed of a 
wonderful genius for invention. 

I have now, in my crude and perhaps unsatisfactory 
way, carried those who care to read my not very connected 
story to the Yosemite and the Big Trees and back to 
Madera. We traveled, under the careful guidance of 
Denny, with our own team, a distance of two hundred and 
twelve miles, up and over the Sierra Nevada mountains 
and back here in six days. It may be that some of my 
readers will desire to visit the Valley and Trees and, if 
such is the case, they may be thankful for a little advice 
from one who has been there. First, whichever route you 
select in coming to California, whether by the Southern 
or Central road, come to Madera as the best point to start 
from. Here you will find excellent hotel accommodations 
at reasonable rates. In making your arrangements for the 
trip to the Valley, shun the public stages as you would 
rattlesnakes or Indians. You can procure a good team 
with excellent guide for the necessary six days' trip for 
sixty dollars, which with ten dollars' toll and perhaps 
thirty dollars more for hotel bills, will enable two persons 
to get through on one hundred dollars, a saving of at 
least a hundred dollars over the cost by stage. 

To-morrow we are off for San Francisco, and thence 
to Japan by steamer. 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 41 



IV. 



From Madera to San Francisco — The Pacific Coast as a 
Farming Country — The Wheat Production— San Francisco 
Hotels — Off for Japan. 

San Francisco, September ig, 1881. 

On Friday last Ave left our good friends of Madera, 
including our ever faithful guide Denny, for this city and 
beyond. The San Joaquin Valley, which lies between the 
Sierra Nevadas and the Coast Range, say fifty to seventy- 
five miles in width, is the great wheat belt of California. 
They do farming here on a scale that would test the cre- 
dulity of a Buckeye agriculturist. We saw wheat fields 
that extended for miles, and millions of sacks of grain 
piled up ready to be drawn to some station for shipment. 
Here they can, if necessary, leave the wheat lying out in 
the fields for months in this way, as no one seems desirous 
of stealing that which is so plenty, and previous to the 
first of November, there will not be rain or dew enough 
to rust a knife blade. During our trip up this valley 
we saw more wheat than any Ohio county will raise in 
five years. 

What is called hay in this country would be contempt- 
uously cast aside by the Eastern farmers as a very poor 
quality of useless straw. But, like many other things in 
this world, and in California in particular, the appearance 
of this hay is very deceptive, as indicated by the fat, sleek 
horses and cattle which are fed with it, and which the 
farmers of Ohio can not largely excel. The hay is nothing 



42 WHAT I SAW, 

more than barley, cut before it is quite ripened. This is 
baled and mainly sent up into the mountains, where little 
is raised. 

The fact that it does not rain for seven or eight months, 
renders it not a very pleasant place to live. Just now the 
surface of the earth seems almost completely pulverized, 
and the dust settles upon every thing and penetrates any- 
where that air is not excluded. I must say I am not ab- 
sorbed in admiration for such a country. 

After a brief and pleasant ride, we reached San Fran- 
cisco, and, in obedience to the recommendation of a friend, 
went to the Lick House. The consequence is I am out a 
dollar in money and a vast amount of temper. The latter 
I can spare, as I have a large reserve supply. The dollar, 
however, gravels me not a little. Why, the wretch who 
presides with such a lordly air over the fortunes of his 
unfortunate guests had the grim audacity, the monumental 
impudence, the adamantine cheek to charge myself and 
companion a dollar for washing our hands and faces in his 
economical caravansary. I " kicked " vigorously, but all 
the unmistakable evidences of disgust which exhaled from 
every pore, had no more effect upon the fellow than would 
a feather blown against Mont Blanc. I then made up 
my mind to make that dollar the most costly that was 
ever taken in by the concern. We transferred ourselves 
at once to a square, good house, where we are now com- 
fortably domiciled. It is the Russ House, where travelers 
are treated like gentlemen and only asked to pay two dol- 
lars per day. 

Our vessel should have sailed on Saturday, but is de- 
tained until to-morrow. We will be able, however, to 
pass our time very pleasantly. I have some acquaintances 
here in the wool trade, and some friends whose acquaint- 
ance we formed when here five years ago. There is little 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 43 

that we care to see in the city, as myself and wife pretty 
thoroughly exhausted its attractive points at that time. 
Besides, we have felt the necessity for rest. For fifteen 
days we have been constantly moving, six of them devoted 
to rattling over the roads of the Sierra Nevada Mountains 
in a spring wagon. I would recommend any of my read- 
ers who may be suffering from indigestion to adopt a simi- 
lar course. When I left home I was scarcely able to 
travel, and now possess an appetite that has threatened a 
famine throughout the Pacific coast. 

We took a peep into Chinatown, and both remarked 
the improvement in the condition of the people since our 
visit in '76. I hope some of our good missionaries have 
done something for them. 

The weather here at this season is delightful, the tem- 
perature ranging from sixty-five in the morning to sev- 
enty-five at noon. 

While coming overland via the Central Road five years 
ago, we stopped at Humboldt Station, where we became 
acquainted with Meacham and wife and daughter, the same 
who afterward suffered so terribly at the hands of the Ute 
Indians. The last two called on us to-day, and aided us 
in pleasantly passing a few hours. 

Yesterday (Sunday) was a beautiful day, and we found 
its observance much more general than upon our previous 
visit. This I am glad to see, but at the same time could 
not fail to observe the preparations that were being made 
for a public show in the afternoon at Woodward's Garden. 
When we were here before Mr. Woodward was in the 
zenith of his glory, managing his Sunday shows with a 
large degree of success. Now, he has gone to his Maker 
to render an account of the matter. The Garden still 
continues, however, and the name of Woodward will never 
perish in San Francisco. What Shaw's Garden is to St. 



44 WHAT I SAW, 

Louis, Woodward's is to San Francisco. Despite the ob- 
jectionable features of the Sunday entertainments, it is a 
magnificent collection of countless attractions for the eve 
and mind, and is now, I believe, the property of the city — 
a munificent gift from the public-spirited "Woodward. It 
requires a vast variety of people, of different ideas and 
divergent theories of life, to constitute a world, and it is a 
wise provision of nature that such differences should exist, 
and perhaps we should not too severely criticise those who 
find their happiness in Sunday amusements, such as others 
view with distaste. However, I am not a moralizer, and 
prefer that people should follow the bent of their own in- 
clinations; which is doubtless very kind in me, particu- 
larly as they will do it any way. 

At twenty minutes past five last evening we had quite a 
perceptible earthquake shock, lasting two or three seconds. 
Salutha was reading, and I was lying on an adjacent sofa. 
But I did n't lie there long. If the pesky, bouncing, 
swaying motion had continued much longer, I honestly be- 
lieve I would have been frightened. As it was, I scarcely 
had time to think until it was all over. This was the 
third earthquake I have felt, one in Cuba, and one in 
Mexico, previous to this. The people here do not mind a 
little shake once in a while, but we have not yet got used 
to^them. It is possible that before our tour of thirty 
thousand miles is completed we will have ample oppor- 
tunity to study the peculiarities of earthquakes and other de- 
vices for irritating the nerves of peacefully disposed people. 

To-day (Sunday) my wife and I have been having a 
long talk with a Mrs. Ramey, of San Luis Obispo, where 
she and her husband are located upon a ranch of thirty- 
five thousand acres, about twenty miles from anywhere 
else. They rent the ground for wheat purposes, paying 
the old Mexican owner a rental of one-fifth of the wheat 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 45 

and barley in the bag. They use headers to gather the 
wheat. The lady, however, expresses herself as badly dissat- 
isfied, owing to her isolated condition, the nearest white lady 
being distant twenty-five miles. She is anxious to return 
to her old home, at Xenia, Ohio, and declares that often she 
is driven almost to desperation by the loneliness of her 
condition. They have been on the coast for eight years; 
but Mrs. Ramey, who is an intelligent woman, says their 
experience has not been one of entire success, and advises 
those who are in the East, and have any thing to lose, to 
stay there, as here the expenses keep up with the receipts. 
I, for my part, can not see so many chances to make 
money here as many do. Of course, you hear of some 
rich strikes, but you never hear of the thousands of per- 
sons who come to California and fail to make a success 
of the venture. 

If we had known of the leisure at our disposal before 
the sailing of the steamer, we would have visited the 
Geysers. It is probable, however, that we will see more 
than enough Avater before we look upon America again. 

To-morrow (Monday) we sail for Japan. I will write 
from Yokohama, but you will not be able to hear from us 
for perhaps fifty days, as it takes twenty-four days over, 
and of course the same back. 



46 WHAT I SAW, 



V. 



On the Pacific — Incidents of the "Voyage — A Brief Dissertation 
on the Chinese, Supplemented by an Unprofessional Trea- 
tise on Navigation — Arrival in Japan. 

Steamer Gaelic, on the Pacific, 

A Thousa7id Allies from Anywhere. ] 

As announced in my last, written from San Francisco, 
we sailed from that port on the 20th of September on the 
steamer Gaelic for Yokohama and around the world. The 
scenes attendant upon the sailing of the vessel differed 
materially from those which can be viewed almost any day 
upon the doeks of New York. There were none of those 
lingering farewells to departing friends that have a tend- 
ency to make a person feel as if he were about to play a 
leading part in a funeral rather than enjoy the strange 
sights of foreign lands. Aside from the herd of Chinese 
which we have now securely stowed away below, the prep- 
arations for sailing were conducted in an orderly and 
decorous manner. These Mongolians, however, are a 
curious collection, of whose characters I might speak at 
length could I but convince myself that they have any. 
So far as my experience with them extends, they are a 
sorry set. I am informed that the Chinese who confer 
upon America the inestimable blessing of their presence 
belong to the lower classes of the citizens of the Flowery 
Kingdom. From my heart, I hope so. For the credit 
of the Chinese people and nation, I trust I have not been 
misinformed. These creatures are quite devoted to what 
they consider their religious duties, which devotion appears 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 47 

mainly to consist of efforts to appease the wrath of the 
evil spirit that in their case corresponds with the Satan of 
Christianity. I do not claim a sufficiently intimate ac- 
quaintance with his Satanic Majesty to form an intelligent 
estimate of his likes and dislikes ; but if he can look upon 
a Chinese coolie with pleased eyes, he is doubly entitled 
to the distrust of every decent man and woman in the 
universe. This appeasement of the wrath of the evil spirit 
is accomplished by scattering upon the sea bits of j>eculiar 
paper. The ceremony was performed at the outset of the 
voyage, and has been repeated at intervals since. Just 
why or how this mummery has an effect upon the Evil One 
has never been explained to me. It appears in its effect, 
however, to be eminently satisfactory, as the Mongolians 
claim that this profuse distribution of particles of paper 
has propitiated the spirit to an extent which guarantees us 
a safe and pleasant voyage. We may, while feeling no con- 
fidence in the means adopted, express the hope that the con- 
clusion arrived at is a correct one. We have four hundred 
and seventy of these unregenerate heathen on board. Three 
have died since the voyage began, but we still have them, 
as the contract with the steamship company provides that 
each Chinaman is to be delivered in China, dead or alive, 
as the case may be. Each corpse is embalmed and packed 
away among the freight, keeping company with the osseous 
remains of numerous Celestials who were taught in life 
that the bliss of eternity is vouchsafed only to those whose 
bones find their final resting place in the soil of the Flow- 
cry Kingdom. Our Chinese passengers are fed upon rice 
and a weak coffee, and are transported for fifty dollars each. 
Slowly our gigantic steamer passed out of the harbor 
of San Francisco, through the masses of shipping from 
almost every part of the world; past the navy-yard at 
Mare Island and the outer forts, through the Golden Gate, 



48 WHAT I SAW, 

and out upon the broad expanse of the Pacific. Gradually 
the shore faded from view, and it was with a feeling of 
sadness that we stood upon the deck and watched our na- 
tive land sink apparently beneath the waves. Our minds 
were thronged with the hopes and fears, the incidents, 
pleasant and unpleasant, that must lie between us and the 
time when we again may look upon our beloved America. 
Perhaps it may be our lot never again to view our home — 
never again to tread the land of our birth and feel the 
pride that swells the breast of every true American citizen 
when beneath the protecting folds of the beautiful emblem 
of liberty, America's flag of the free. 

The first duty of a sea voyager after losing sight of 
land is to study his fellow-passengers. We have in the 
cabin ten passengers. We have with us a minister of the 
English Church and four other Englishmen, one Italian, 
and two Scotchmen. My companion and myself are the 
only Americans. There is but one lady besides Mrs. Con- 
verse. We have the best room on the boat, and are very 
kindly treated. Just here I would like some older traveler 
than myself to tell why it is that Englishmen as a class 
are not pleasant traveling companions. I have never 
found them companionable to the extent that other nation- 
alities are. They seemingly are impressed with the idea 
that Englishmen are chosen by the Almighty to lead and 
instruct other people, and are ever ready with gratuitously 
proffered advice, which they consider it every other per- 
son's duty to religiously follow. 

Our vessel sails under the British flag, and is a com- 
modious structure, three hundred and sixty feet in length, 
and rides the water like — like — well, just like any other 
vessel of equal size, staunchness^ and careful management. 
The crew consists of ninety men, many of them Chinese. 
These, together with twelve cabin and four hundred and 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 49 

seventy steerage passengers, make a total of five hundred 
and seventy-two souls who have on this occasion tempted 
the treacherous ocean ; that is, if Chinamen have souls, 
and I guess they have. 

Our daily routine is monotonous. We rise at 6 and 
have a cup of coffee ; breakfast at 9 ; lunch at 1, and din- 
ner at 6. The table is elegant. A complement of animals 
are carried with us, and daily slaughter provides us with 
fresh meat. Notwithstanding this there is a constant feel- 
ing of uneasiness beneath the waistband that, while it does 
not at all times destroy the appetite, nevertheless causes one 
to long for an hour of good solid ground beneath his feet. 
Our first Sunday out was a day of calm, and at half-past 
10 we were assembled in the cabin to listen to religious 
services, conducted by the English parson. The service 
was opened by the singing of the hymn, " Nearer, my God, 
to Thee." The preaching was very appropriate to the 
occasion, and not a heart but went out in devout thank- 
fulness to God for our preservation from the dangers of a 
sea voyage. 

I devote much of my time to becoming posted upon 
Japan, and have laid out a land trip through the empire 
of two hundred miles, in which I will visit the temples 
and such other points of interest as may be within my 
reach. 

One incident occurred the other day, which, though 
perhaps not unusual, possessed a novelty for us. The look- 
out announced whales in view. I sprang to the deck as 
hurriedly as if the alarm had been one of fire, and there 
in plain view to the leeward were two or three huge 
whales, sporting as playfully as minnows in an aquarium. 

On Monday the captain reported that we were thirteen 
hundred miles from San Francisco, and each revolution 
of the wheel will continue to carry us further until we 

4 



50 WHAT I SAW, 

reach Singapore, which is just half-way around. After 
leaving that place we will each clay be drawing nearer home. 

We do not, as might be supposed, sail directly from 
San Francisco to Yokohama. Instead, we angle north as 
far as the forty-fifth degree of latitude, and then bear 
south again before reaching Japan. The reason of this 
may seem a little obscure at first glance, but a moment's 
study of the conformation of a globe will explain it. As 
a matter of fact, we gain fully six hundred miles by this 
apparent "going around Robin Hood's barn." If any of 
my readers will locate San Francisco and Yokohama on a 
globe, and then measure with a string the direct line and 
also the route I have indicated, the difference will become 
apparent. If Brother Jasper, the colored minister who 
can not be convinced that the world is really round, was 
with us, he would find many things that would tend to 
force conviction upon his mind. 

Another curious thing to the Pacific Ocean voyager is 
the fact that he loses a day. As I am not just now de- 
livering a dissertation upon navigation I will not enter 
upon an extended explanation of the why of this. The 
reason will be apparent to any one who reflects that in 
passing around the world to the west we follow the course 
of the sun, or, more strictly speaking, move against the 
revolution of the earth, and it becomes evident that a 
day is lost as thoroughly during the journey as if we had, 
like Puck, " put a girdle 'round the earth in forty min- 
utes." To make it more clear, suppose you start from 
New York on Sunday and pass around the earth in 
twenty-four hours. As you follow the sun precisely dur- 
ing the entire route, it would still be Sunday to you upon 
your return to the starting-point, no night having inter- 
vened, but it would be Monday to those you left behind. 
The same is true if your voyage occupies an unlimited 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 51 

time instead of twenty-four hours. This day is dropped 
out of the calendar on crossing the one-hundred and 
eightieth parallel of longitude, or just half-way around 
from Greenwich, England, the point from which calcula- 
tions are usually made. 

There ! I guess that will do for a brief lecture on nav- 
igation. As a matter of fact, I can tell much more about 
navigating the highways and byways of Ohio than I can 
of the " pathless desert of the sea." 

This voyage is becoming a trifle monotonous. It is a 
rare thing to meet a vessel, and so far upon the trip we 
have seen no evidence of the continued existence of the 
human race, beyond the presence of those who bear us im- 
mediate company. This is the longest continuous ocean 
voyage within the reach of commerce. From the time 
of leaving San Francisco until we sight the head-lands of 
Japan, a distance of more than five thousand miles, we see 
no land. The next longest is from England to the Cape 
of Good Hope, but there the vessels stop at the Cape de 
Verde Islands. 

But even an ocean voyage is not wholly devoid of 
exciting experiences, and we had one the other day, our 
tenth day out. About 10 A. M. our vessel was struck by a 
cyclone — not one of those Ohio wind storms that occasion- 
ally blow shingles from dilapidated roofs, but a regular 
hurricane, that would blow the hair off a man's head in 
the twinkling of a blind eye. The sensation produced 
upon the mind of the writer r was such as might be ex- 
pected. I was scared ! frightened ! terrified ! I tell you 
the Indians of Arizona and the earthquakes of San Fran- 
cisco are children's toys compared with a cyclone at sea 
when it once gets earnestly down to work. Sails were 
torn into shreds, and the sea ran " mountains high " — that 
is, little mountains. The waves looked like massive hill 



52 WHAT I SAW, 

ranges capped with snow. There was never any thing 
more fully belied its name than the Pacific Ocean. I was 
sick for three days afterward. Mrs. Converse took her 
share of sickness the first few days out, and during this 
gale was as good a sailor as the best of them. I believe 
she absolutely enjoyed it. I did n't. 

On the night of Saturday, October 1st, we passed the 
one hundred and eightieth degree of longitude, and waked 
up the next morning to find Sunday wiped from the cal- 
endar, and Monday substituted. So far we have had but 
little sunshine, and the atmosphere is quite chilly, the 
mercury ranging from forty-five to sixty degrees. 

On the third Friday out the captain announced that it 
was probable we would meet the steamer from Yokohama 
to San Francisco, and I am hurrying this letter so that, 
if we are so fortunate, I can send it by that vessel, thus 
saving perhaps fourteen days in its delivery. 

We hope to reach land by the 10th. Should we do 
so, I will be but one day out of my programme. Pretty 
good, I fancy, for a trip of thousands of miles. 

At this writing it is Monday, the 10th of October, and 
no returning steamer yet in sight. We had a terrible 
thunder storm last night, with very high sea. To-morrow 
we will, if nothing happens, be at the end of our voyage — 
twenty-one days out from 'Frisco. 

Japan ! At this moment, Tuesday, October 11th, we are 
steaming into the harbor of Yokohama. We did not meet 
the return steamer because she had not started. As she 
will leave the port soon, I hurry this up, deferring men- 
tion of our first impressions of Japan until my next. 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 53 



VI. 



Japan and the Japanese — A Condensed Histokical Sketch — The 
Curious Customs of a Curious People — Visit to the Temples 
near Yokohama — A Religion with an Ample Supply op Gods. 

Yokohama, Japan, October ij, 1881. 

My last letter, dated on board the steamer Gaelic, almost 
anywhere on the Pacific Ocean, was necessarily posted 
promptly upon our arrival, as the steamer for San Francisco 
was on the eve of departure. Thus I was unable to even 
attempt a description of the impressions which our first 
glimpse of Japan produced. We have now been within 
the jurisdiction of the mighty Mikado for four days, and 
have seen much, been astonished by many things, and 
wondered at all. If a citizen of the United States should, 
by some occult process, find himself a sojourner on the 
planet Jupiter, he might perhaps see less to arouse his 
wonderment than he does here in the land of the Japs. 

At an early hour on the morning of our arrival, so 
soon as the first ray of daylight gave its necessary aid to 
the vision, the coast of Japan rose before us in a long, 
dark outline, stretching away on either hand and appearing, 
in its indistinctness, like a vast bank of storm-threatening 
clouds. As the darkness subsided, the gigantic, snow- 
capped peak of Fusi Yami appeared as a grim and frowning 
background to a picture which found its greatest beauty 
to our eyes in the fact that it was the first glimpse of 
"good solid ground" we had had for more than twenty 
days. 



54 WHA T I SAW, 

Our steamer dropped her anchor in the harbor of 
Yokohama about 8 o'clock in the morning, in the midst 
of a vast array of shipping from all parts of the world, 
and surrounded by myriads of small boats, eager and 
anxious to place themselves at the service of any one for 
a pitifully meager compensation. 

The bay of Yokohama is very spacious, land-locked, 
with an abundant depth of water, sufficient to float the 
combined navies of the world, and surrounded by gently 
sloping elevations, giving it an appearance of picturesque 
beauty. The water is as smooth as a mirror. Our first 
impression as we gazed with wondering eyes from the deck 
of the Gaelic before disembarking was one of grateful 
satisfaction, coupled with an anxiety to explore the secrets 
of the fairy-like land before us. 

We were soon transferred to the shore, a distance of 
two miles, dividing our leisure during the brief trip by 
studying our surroundings and schooling our modesty to 
view with equanimity the shameless appearance of our 
Japanese boatmen, who, with the exception of an abbrevi- 
ated breech-clout, were arrayed in all the gorgeousness 
which distinguished the traditional Georgia Colonel. But 
we will have to get used to this, as our limited experience 
has already taught us that, with the coolie class in Japan, 
nakedness is the rule and clothing the exception. 

We landed at the custom house, and were but little 
delayed, when we trasferred ourselves to the Windsor 
Hotel, kej3t by the ubiquitous Ohio man — a gentleman by 
the unusual name of Smith, formerly of Dayton. This 
hotel is an innovation, being conducted much as are the 
caravansaries in America, and one I can recommend to 
every American visiting Japan. After breakfast we paid 
our respects to the American consul, and received much 
information which will be of value to us during our travels 



A ND HO W I SA W IT. 55 

through the country. The first duty was to have our 
American gold exchanged for native currency. I received 
nine per cent premium and took Japanese silver, which is 
the handsomest coin I ever saw. The native silver I 
again had exchanged into paper, at the rate of one for one 
and a half. The money here is thus enumerated : Ten 
tempo make one bun, or cent; ten buns make one yen, or 
dollar. My drafts on London are worth one hundred and 
seventeen in specie. 

During our peregrinations we viewed many strange 
sights, which it would require a volume to even partially 
describe. Among others was a turn-out of the fire depart- 
ment, in response to an alarm. It was a novel display, 
and, to American eyes, not a little ludicrous in its details. 
In Japan, fire is a source of constant dread, as the light, 
flimsy structures of bamboo and teak, which do duty in 
this country as building material, provide a choice quality 
of fuel, which feeds the flames. When a fire once breaks 
out, it is much easier to tell where it will not stop than where 
it will. What this particular fire amounted to I do not 
know. It did not disturb my equanimity to any extent, as 
my interest in Yokohama real estate is fortunately limited. 
The excitement . ran high. I have noticed that the Japs 
are very easily excited. Upon the slightest provocation 
they will yell and gesticulate like unrestrained maniacs, 
but it seldom amounts to any thing. 

In the morning of the first day we got our passports 
and money matters arranged and while waiting for dinner 
diligently studied the guide book preparatory to more ex- 
tended observations. 

Before entering upon further details of our personal 
experiences, it may be well to recall some points in the 
political history of Japan, which will doubtless prove of 
interest to my readers. 



56 WHAT I SAW, 

The natives of Japan are supposed to have originally 
come from Southern Siberia, and, according to their rec- 
ords, assumed political organization about twenty-four 
hundred years ago in the two islands of Niphon and 
Kiusiu. They were governed by an emperor, who, being 
descended from the gods, was divine and absolute on earth, 
and when he died was worshiped. Not only was his per- 
son too sacred to be looked upon by a stranger, but even 
the sun must not shine upon his head. It was sacrilegious 
to touch the dishes from which he ate. At his death his 
twelve wives and all their attendants disemboweled them- 
selves. These attributes are still popularly conceded to 
the ruler. As Vicegerent of Heaven, he wears the title of 
Tenno ; as sovereign in temporal affairs, he is the Mikado, 
or Emperor. Miako, some thirty miles inland from Yeddo, 
was his ancient capitol and Osaka its seaport. The em- 
peror, by an assumed divine right, owned all the lands of 
the empire, and in time graciously divided them into 
provinces ; retaining five or more of them for himself, he 
parceled out the remainder among great lords or princes 
called daimios. In the thirteenth century a rebellion 
arose in the empire, and the Mikado, remaining at his 
seat of government, intrusted the defense of the empire 
to the richest and strongest of one of these daimios, who 
bore the title of " Tycoon." This military commander, 
after a short time, absorbed the temporal sovereignty and 
reigned absolutely. The Tycoon, nevertheless paid hom- 
age to the Mikado, who retained his titular rank and un- 
questioned spiritual authority. By degrees the Mikado, 
free from all responsibility for administration, grew in the 
affections of the people in proportion as the Tycoon, who 
exercised his power despotically, became the object of 
popular jealousy and hatred. It was at this juncture that 
the United States, through Commodore Perry, and the 



AND HO W 1 SA W IT. 57 

European Powers afterward, made their treaties with the 
Tycoon, in ignorance of any pretensions on the part of 
the Mikado to temporal power. In 1865 a revolution took 
place, and the Tycoon was shorn of his domination. The 
great Mikado established himself at Yeddo as the supreme 
temporal as well as spiritual ruler. It may be that this 
brief resume of the political events of the past few cen- 
turies of Japanese history will aid my readers to unravel 
the mixture of the terms, " Mikado," " Tycoon," " dai- 
mios," etc., in sketches of Japan. If so, the space which 
I have devoted to it is well filled. 

Every thing here is seemingly cast in a different mold 
from what they are in America and Europe. All we see 
is on a smaller scale. The people are small, the horses 
are small, the cattle are small, the houses are small, and 
even the cups from which you sip the national beverage, 
tea, are tiny specimens, holding scarcely more than a gill. 
But such tea ! The mythical " nectar of the gods " was 
tame in comparison with it. Here we get the tea in its 
primal purity, unadulterated by the shipper and dealer, and 
brewed in a manner which brings forth its best qualities. 

The means of locomotion, like every thing else in 
Japan, is new and curious to us. They have a few miles 
of railroad, but I speak of the means of traversing short 
distances. The ordinary vehicle is what is called a "jinri- 
kisha/"' [There, now ! I beg my indulgent reader not to 
laugh. I really do n't know whether that is the correct 
spelling, but it is what it sounds like. In Japan, orthog- 
raphy, with me, at least, is wholly governed by the ear.] 
It is simply an exaggerated baby wagon, placed on two 
wheels, with a top like a buggy. The wheels are about 
three feet in diameter, and each vehicle is drawn by a 
native coolie, dressed in nothing, or as near nothing as 
the most limited sense of decency will allow. They are 



58 



WHAT I SAW, 



little fellows, only about five feet high and do not weigh 
to exceed one hundred and twenty pounds. Yet they will 
step briskly into the shafts and trot off at the rate of 

seven miles 
per hour. The 
shoes worn by 
these coolies, 
and by all the 
lower and 
middle classes 
of Japanese are 
but a pad of 
plaited straw, 
about three- 
fourths of an 
inch thick. 
They are held 
on the foot by 
two cords, 
united at the 
front end and, 
passing be- 
tween the big 
toe and its 
a Japanese Laborer. neighbor, sep- 

arate and, going one on each side of the foot, unite again 
under the heel. It is not likely that an American could 
hold them on his feet for a minute by such a crude con- 
trivance, but the coolies suffer apparently no inconvenience 
on that account. 

These shoes, or sandals, are more durable than one 
would suppose. They will last for thirty or forty miles 
of travel. They have the advantage of being very light, 
and are warranted not to produce corns or bunions. They 




AND HO W I SA W IT. 59 

are also very cheap, costing but about a cent per pair. 
The highways are lined almost with cast-off straw sandals, 
that have been thrown aside after serving the purpose of 
the wearer until they became worn out. 

As these little carriages hold but one person, we en- 
gaged two, one for my companion and the other for myself. 
You can readily picture the cavalcade composed of two of 
these diminutive concerns, drawn by a proportionately 
diminutive nine-tenths naked Jap, trotting along at the 
rate of about six miles per hour. That was Mrs. Converse 
and myself, enjoying our introduction to rural Japan. As 
they moved rapidly along the coolies continuously shouted, 
" Get out I" " Get out I" thus causing the innocent little 
Japs to give way for our passage. I can not tell what 
their ideas were. Mayhap they mistook us for a potentate 
of the empire, or perhaps the Great Tenno himself. Who 
knows? We went out into the country about six miles, 
and gathered flowers, grasses, etc. We visited the race 
track, which has a circuit of two miles, and viewed the 
farm houses, gardens, and rice fields. The whole country 
is much broken, yet the soil is as fine black loam as I ever 
saw. All kinds of vegetables that we are familiar with, and 
many that- are strange, are produced in seemingly bound- 
less abundance. We also visited the American Cemetery, 
where a number of the companions of Commodore Perry 
are interred. There are some tasteful monuments which 
add to the natural and artificial beauty of the place. The 
cemetery is handsomely located on a terraced hillside, and 
planted with tropical trees. 

One feature of Japan which strikes the American 
traveler as peculiar is the entire absence of " the country," 
as we understand the term at home. The population is 
exceedingly dense, and the most loquacious gossiper need 
not step beyond his dooryard to exchange news with his 



60 WHAT I SAW, 

neighbor. This necessitates a much more thorough system 
of agricultural cultivation than prevails in America. Xot 
a square foot is allowed to go to waste, and grains, which 
with us are permitted to be affected without restraint by 
the elements, are here as carefully watched .nd tended as 
American ladies care for their most precious flowers. In 
America land is cheaper and more plentiful than are per- 
sons to care for it. Here, of course, it is just the oppo- 
site, and the frugal Japs, after all, simply obey the inex- 
orable law of necessity. Did they follow the same system 
in vogue in America, the people would starve. The great 
peculiarity of the Japanese, among all the nations of the 
earth, is that they are vegetarians. Full ninety per cent 
of all their food consists of vegetable productions. Rice 
is the great staple ; barley is next, and then follow millet, 
wheat, rye, and Indian corn. They have many vegetables 
of the highest value as articles of diet which are unknown 
to us, and efforts are now in progress to introduce some 
of these into America. 

A difference arose in the Converse family the first day 
we were in Japan. It is not likely to prove serious, but 
it is a difference nevertheless. Mrs. C, with a perversity 
peculiar to her sex, expresses a preference for -the small 
Japanese boys, while my inclinations draw me irresistibly 
toward the large Japanese girls. I hope to convince 
Salutha that mine is the better way of thinking, but it is 
only a shadowy, ill-defined hope. If there are any really 
handsome people in the world it is the Japanese. And 
so polite! When you purchase any thing they bow them- 
selves almost to the ground, and appear the very picture 
of grateful humility. Ah, the sly rascals! The prob- 
abilities are that they have cheated you outrageously in 
the trade. I know they did me, and I am not wholly un- 
sophisticated either. 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 



61 



As I was seated writing in the afternoon, I felt some- 
what startled by a rap on the door. In response to my 
summons, a native waiter approached in the most ob- 
sequious manner possible, and presented me a letter super- 
scribed with the very familiar name of "L. Converse." 
Who in Japan knows me? was my mental query, as I 
broke the seal to examine the contents. Perhaps an in- 
vitation to dine with the Mikado ! May be a summons to 
a confidential chat with the foreign minister ! But no ! It 
was simply the card of a business house, inviting me to call 
and buy some clothing. I did n't go. I still have some 
clothes left — a great many more, in fact, than are worn by 
some of the Japanese. 

The breeds of domestic animals in Japan are limited 
in variety and size. The native horses are small, weighing 




A Japanese House. 



an average of scarcely more than eight hundred pounds. 
The foreigners have their horses, mostly imported, and 
basket phaetons, and when they ride out a coolie servant 



62 WHAT I SAW, 

runs beside the horse all the way, even should the journey 
be so great as thirty or forty miles per day. 

The buildings in Yokohama are cosmopolitan, if such 
a term can be applied to architecture. They are composed 
of stone, brick, or bamboo, just as the wealth or taste of 
the builder may select. The Japanese, while called an 
imitative race, do many things unlike other people. For 
instance, in our rambles we witnessed a novel mode of ele- 
vating mortar and other material. On nearly every round 
of the ladder was stationed a coolie, and each passed the 
bucket of mortar to his next highest neighbor, very much 
as the bucket brigade carried water to the fires when you 
and I were boys. 

The police force of Yokohama is very numerous and 
efficient. They have a peculiar appearance, being dressed 
wholly in white. This with us would be significant of 
purity, but I do not think it is in Japan, or they would 
not uniform their policemen in that way. That is, unless 
the Japanese police belong to a race of beings superior to 
the conservators of the public peace in the United States. 

Finally, Ave voted unanimously — that is, Salutha and I — 
that we were weary from our first day's experience in Japan, 
and, after partaking of a seven o'clock dinner, we devoted 
the evening to rest and comparing notes of our impressions 
of Japan and the Japs. One duty of the evening was to 
contract for two jinrikishas, with two coolies each, to go to 
the Temple of Daibutz, eighteen miles from Yokohama. 
We closed a bargain of eight yens, or four dollars of our 
money, for the round trip. Our coolies provided every 
thing for themselves, feed, attention, and all the recmisites 
of the jaunt. 

It was the intention to start at half-past six o'clock in 
the morning, but in the matter of apparently inexcusable 
delay, Japan does not differ from the balance of the world, 



AND HOW 1 SAW IT. 



63 



and it was not until eight o'clock that our " carriages " 
were ready. As the country to be traversed was quite 
rough, we had two coolies to each of the — well, I believe I 
won't try that word again. I always drive double, and I 
will pay my coolie team the compliment of saying that 
I never handled a pair of animals that could keep up with 
them. We passed along by a canal for four miles, and 
then up a narrow valley five hundred to two thousand feet 
wide, and on up through mountain ravines to an elevation 
of twenty-five hundred feet. Then followed alternate 
ascents and descents, through narrow passes, from six to 
eight feet wide, with walls of rock on either hand tower- 
ing up from one to two hundred feet. Finally we de- 
bouched on to f plateau, where we found villages, extend- 
ing for miles with scarcely an intervening vacant space to 




Interior of Japanese Dwelling. 

mark the boundary lines. There was a great sameness in 
the buildings composing these, as there is in fact in all dwell- 
ings that we have seen in Japan. They are constructed of 
teak, with roofs of straw. For successive miles we would 
pass through these villages of but one narrow street, enjoying 



64 WHAT I SAW, 

the opportunity to study the peculiarities of dress and man- 
ners. The prevailing costumes do not require much com- 
ment, because there was but little of them. The unadorned 
purity of nature was the usual style. The women wore a 
short skirt, and the children nothing. The complexion of 
the Japanese is a dark brown, with coal black hair and 
eyes. The girls are pretty until married, when custom 
requires them to stain their teeth black and otherwise 
disfigure themselves. All are small of stature, seldom ex- 
ceeding five feet. Along the road which we traveled, at 
short distances were tea houses, where we frequently 
stopped and invested a cent in the delicious beverage. 
We tarried at several stores and made purchases without 
seriously depleting our funds, as a few*' cents will buy 
almost a cart load of any thing that strikes your fancy. 
I bought a pair of straw horse shoes for twenty tempo. In 
this country they shoe both men and beasts with straw. 

On our way we visited a large temple where they have 
an immense gong, some six feet across. The priest gave 
it a thump with a wooden hammer, and explained that 
that constituted the prayer, lasting as long as the sound 
continued. He asked me to " pray." I agreed, and gave 
that gong a terrific rap. I judge the natives heard more 
prayer during the succeeding minute than had perhaps 
ever before fallen upon their ears. I can hear that 
" prayer " yet. Goodness ! how the meek-eyed Japs 
did open their eyes. They probably thought I needed 
prayer badly. Perhaps they were right. I should judge 
that in this temple there are a thousand images, grouped 
about a principal one. Just what these images are in- 
tended to represent I was unable to learn. They are, 
however, undoubtedly titular deities of some kind. A 
hideous collection of gods they are, too — as unhandsome 
a display of idols as one could find anywhere. I could 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 65 

not describe this temple fully in a day's time, and it would 
probably add but little to the reader's stock of valuable 
information if I essayed the task. It is built, like all 
others, of teak with straw roof, the latter perhaps fifteen 
to eighteen inches thick. Think of that, for a roof thou- 
sands, may be tens of thousands, of years old ! 

We pass on, however, down the valley, leaving the 
temple behind us. There is a plethora of gods in Japan. 
On the road which we traveled these images are erected 
every few rods, each seemingly vying with its neighbor 
in ugliness. Temples, also, are numerous, and we were 
at no time more than a few minutes out of sight of 
one. They range from a few feet to an acre in extent. 
The priests received us very kindly, conducting us over 
the temples and evidently striving to create a good im- 
pression, in return for which we bestowed a few tempo. 
Some of these days I am going to study the belief of the 
Japanese. I want to learn what sort of a religion it is 
that requires such a legion of hideously formed gods to 
run it. 

At noon we arrived at the great Daibutz Temple, one 
of the wonders of the world. A description of this struc- 
ture, a vast human form, must be deferred until my next. 

5 



66 WHAT I SAW, 



VII. 



Further op the Japanese — A Visit to Diabutz — The Temples — 
A Japanese Hotel and Dinner — The City of Yokohama — Its 
Business and its People. 

Yokohama, Japan, October 18, 1881. 

At noon of the day whose incidents were being de- 
tailed at the close of my last letter, we reached the great 
Daibutz, eighteen miles from Yokohama. The image is 
certainly the most wonderful construction I ever viewed. 
It is considered the proper thing for the wonder-stricken 
writer to speak of any thing that especially excites his par- 
ticular astonishment as "one of the Seven Wonders of the 
world." My experience tells me that this world is full of 
wonders, ancient and modern, many of them more awe- 
inspiring than the Pyramids of Egypt, the Colossus of 
Rhodes, the Mausoleum of Artemesia, the Temple of Diana, 
the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, or the Statue of Jupiter 
Olympus. All these wonders, with the exception of the 
Pyramids of Egypt, have passed away. They were, no 
doubt, in their day remarkable specimens of mechanical 
and architectural skill, but, compared with some of the 
structures of a more recent date, they sink into compara- 
tive insignificance. No scholar needs to be told that the 
scenes and incidents in ancient history are surrounded 
with a halo of mythological glory which does not add to 
their reliability. But the image of Daibutz remains, a 
gigantic wonderment at once to the mechanical skill and 
absurd idolatry of the Japanese. Its history is involved 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 67 

in tradition, but it was probably erected ages since. It is 
in the form of a seated statue, and represents Buddha, or, 
as named by the Japanese, Daibutz. It pictures the pro- 
genitor of the Buddhist faith in a sitting posture, with the 
legs gathered beneath, the arms brought forward and 
crossed. It is fifty feet in height, one hundred feet in 
circumference at the base, and the head is nine feet long. 
The remarkable feature of the statue is that it is com- 
posed of an alloy of gold, silver, zinc, and copper, and is 
hollow. There is not to be seen a single joint or seam, 
even upon the most minute examination. It is reached by 
a flight of solid steps, and upon entering, one is stricken 
with the immensity of this human figure. We ascended 
to the head, which is large enough to hold six or eight 
persons. The bonze, or Buddhist priest, was very accom- 
modating, and showed us through every part of the struc- 
ture, in return for which we bestowed upon the humble 
heathen one half-yen. This image is not, as might be sup- 
posed, a temple in itself, but a part of an extensive Budd- 
hist shrine that, some six hundred years ago, was, as tradi- 
tion relates, swept away by a tidal wave, leaving only this 
gigantic caricature. As Daibutz is situated fully three 
miles from the sea, it requires a perilous stretch of the 
imagination to comprehend an elemental disturbance that 
would compass its destruction. After an hour devoted to 
examining the image and its surroundings, including quite 
a variety of minor gods, we departed, feeling that, should 
our journey end here, we had been amply repaid for the 
trials and inconveniences of our trip. 

Education in Japan is almost universal. Not such 
education as the children of more enlightened nations re- 
ceive, but very thorough so far as it goes. The Japs are 
great readers, and illiteracy, even among the coolies, or 
slaves, is rare. On our return from the visit to the struc- 



68 



WHAT I SAW, 



ture, which I have very incompletely described, we passed 
near a school house, just as the pupils were being dis- 
missed, and tarried for a moment to study the pleasing 
picture. The children seemed very timid, probably think- 
ing that we were some hideous goblins sent by the evil 

spirit to carry them 
away. Finally, by 
p r o ff e r i n g some 
shining coins, I in- 
duced one little 
maiden to approach. 
The teacher was a 
lady of mature years, 
who did not seem to 
be aifectcd with 
special diffidence, as 
she came to us, and 
restrained her won- 
der at our appear- 
ance as completely as 
possible. Woman- 
like, her fancy was 
: evidently for dress, 
^ and she examined 
with childish delight 
the appearance of 
Mrs. Converse, her 
admiration being 
A Japanese Servant. p a r t i C U 1 a r 1 y i n - 

volved in the ribbons and other ornaments. 

Passing by the school, we visited the "Great Brass 
God," climbing up a long flight of stone steps and entering 
a temple, where the " boss " god of all the gods is located. 
It is the figure of a man, composed of gold and brass, 




AND HO W I SA W IT. 69 

some thirty feet high and eight broad. Its abdominal 
development would indicate that the Japanese god manu- 
facturers possess an appreciative idea of the delights of 
gustatory exercises. The bonze who has charge of this 
particular deity was quite cordial, and made us a long 
speech in Japanese, to which we paid close attention, but 
can scarcely claim to have been edified. The curiosity of 
a bevy of boys was excited, and they received us very 
much as what we undoubtedly were, veritable curiosities. 
Humanity is, after all, much the same the world over — in 
most respects, at least. It is not probable that our appear- 
ance in the Japanese temple excited more curiosity than 
would the presence of a couple of Buddhist priests or 
coolie Japs in the Court House at Bucyrus. There would 
be one difference, however. The youthful Bucyrians would 
scarcely exhibit the extent of trepidation manifested by 
the little Japs. The slightest movement on our part was 
the signal for a scattering of demoralized cupids that in- 
dicated not so much modesty as fear. 

We left the brass god and the attendant priest with 
some regret, and repaired to the village hotel. Our coolies 
constantly yell to the passers-by to clear the way, as they 
have a great lord and lady in charge. What do you think 
of that, ye unappreciative Buckeyes ? We once circulated 
among you as unostentatiously as the most humble. Here 
we are of some account. Truly "a prophet is not without 
honor except in his own country." The streets in the 
villages through which we passed were all narrow, and 
the whole front of the dwellings being open, we had the 
opportunity of observing much of the internal economy. 
It was a continuously amusing feature of our journey to 
witness the frantic attempts of the populace to give way 
on the summons of our coolies. There would be a sudden 
scattering, with ill-suppressed excitement, a twinkling of 



70 WHAT I SAW, 

naked heels, a fluttering of garments, and the Japs, of all 
classes and degrees, disappeared within the houses like 
prairie dogs into their burrows. Once inside, their curi- 
osity overcame their trepidation, and they turned to stare 
with open-eyed wonder at us as we were whisked rapidly by. 




Japanese at Dinner. 

In imagining a Japanese hotel the reader will please 
dismiss all ideas ot architecture derived from the palatial 
establishments of large American cities. The hotels, out- 
wardly at least, are wooden structures, two stories high, 
but oftener only one. The roofs are usually thatched; 
though the city caravansaries are tiled. They are entirely 
open on the front ground floor, and about six feet from 
the sill or threshold rises a platform, about a foot and a 
half high, upon which the proprietor may be seen, seated 
upon his heels, behind a tiny tray ten inches high, busy 
with his account books. The kitchen is usually just next 
to this front room, often separated from the street only by 
a latticed partition. In evolving a Japanese kitchen out 
of his or her imagination the reader must cast away the 
rising conception of Bridget's realm. Blissful, indeed, is 
the thought, as we enter the Japanese hotel, that neither 
the typical servant nor the American hotel clerk find an 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 



71 



abiding place there. The landlord comes to meet us, fall- 
ing on his hands and knees and bowing his head to the 
floor. Fancy, if you can, an Ohio Boniface in such an 
humble and undignified position! One or two of the bevy 
of handsome girls seen in Japanese hotels come to assist us 
and care for our traps. Welcomes, invitations, and merry 
chatter, of which we do not understand a syllable, greet 
us as we sit down to take off our shoes, as all guests of 
Japanese hotels are expected to do. We stand up unshod, 
and are led by the girls along the smooth corridor to the 
room set apart for our entertainment, where we are seated 
on mats on the floor. No chairs or tables are seen. They 
bring to us tea and such food as the customs of the coun- 




Japanese Reading and Singing Girls. 

try provide, consisting mostly of raw or cooked fish, rice, 
and bread. I think the bread is made from the meal of 
millet, as I had observed them grinding it in that very 
primitive manner, pounding it in a stone mortar. In 
Japan the use of nearly every kind of animal flesh is pro- 
hibited by religion, although the flesh of the deer and 
wild boar are excepted. But these animals are found only 



72 WHAT I SAW, 

in remote regions, and in small numbers, so that but few 
of the people are benefited by the exception. The popu- 
lation of Japan is estimated at thirty-six millions. Reli- 
able statistics show that there are in the whole country 
but about one million head of very inferior quality of 
cattle, nearly one-half of which are bulls, whose emascu- 
lation is not permitted, and whose flesh is, therefore, unfit 
for food. This leaves about six hundred thousand cows, 
not more than half of which are fit for beef, making less 
than one head to each one hundred people, while in the 
United States there are seventy -three head to each one 
hundred persons. Last year there were slaughtered in the 
empire thirty-six thousand cattle, more than half of which 
were used by foreigners in the cities and on the ships in 
the harbors. From these facts it is clear that among the 
masses of the people beef is almost unknown. Mutton 
and pork are still more scarce, and are never seen except 
in ports where treaties with other countries permit their 
importation. This religious inhibition does not extend to 
fish or poultry. The latter is abundant, but so high in 
price that only the rich can afford its use, and it forms no 
part of the diet of the common people. Fish is abundant, 
in great variety, in all the streams of the country, and is 
the only article, not of the vegetable nature, which forms 
a staple of daily food. 

This entertainment was not exhaustively expensive, the 
entire bill being but thirty cents, ten each for ourselves, 
and an equal sum for the four coolies. The latter were 
served in the yard, much as carriage horses would be in 
America. 

In the midst of the novel surroundings of the Japanese 
hotel, the time slipped rapidly away, until an hour was 
consumed. At its conclusion our coolie team was ordered 
to the door, and soon we were speeding rapidly toward 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 73 

other interesting experiences, after being cordially God- 
speeded by the host and his galaxy of laughing female 
attendants. Our route took us over a steep mountain 
road, and this was the only occasion during the entire trip 
when we felt the necessity of alighting to relieve our 
motive power of the burden. After reaching the summit, 
we descended an equally steep road to a little fishing vil- 
lage on the ocean's shore, and there gathered a few shells 
and other mementos from the beach. We traversed the 
sandy shore for about three miles until we reached a can- 
yon, through which we passed, encountering several vil- 
lages on our way back to Yokohama. 

During this brief expedition to the country, we enjoyed 
the opportunity of studying to some extent the agricultural 
features of this section of the Mikado's empire. The rice 
crop in some places is matured, and their method of treat- 
ing it carries us back to the pioneer days in Ohio. It is 
threshed by the use of an instrument very similar to the 
old flax heckel. Buckwheat is raised, and some cotton. 
Garden produce of all kinds is, however, the main depend- 
ence. Their manner of preparing the ground is, I should 
judge, the same adopted by Abel, Adam's bucolic son, 
who essayed the cultivation of the soil in the vicinity of 
the Garden of Eden some several years ago. In Japan 
the " plowman," armed with an immense hoe, the blade 
sixteen inches long and four wide, turns up the soil about 
as rapidly as would an awkward boy with an American 
spade. Women do the threshing, carrying their babies 
at the same time. I might describe the operation of sup- 
plying these youngsters with the nourishment which nature 
provides, but my innate modesty forbids. From the ex- 
ceedingly well developed fountains and the abdominal ex- 
tent of the little ones, I am led to the conclusion that the 
supply is not limited. 



74 WE AT 1 SAW, 

We witnessed, among many other novel and ludicrous 
sights, the plan adopted for taking a bullock to market. 
Instead of driving, as they would do in other countries, the 
animal is bound to a two-wheeled truck, at which four men 
haul and twenty push. Every thing is conducted in the 
most primitive manner, though that can hardly be said of 
the marketing of cattle. The system adopted in that regard 
is not such a one as would be chosen by any except the 
Japanese. "We saw the flail, the pounding mortar, and the 
winnowing of seed by throwing it into the air. At times 
it did not require any great stretch of the imagination to 
fancy ourselves transported back to the days of Abraham 
and the other Biblical patriarchs. 

Darkness overtook us on the way, and in reply to an 
inquiry the guides told us it was five miles to Yokohama, 
but I am willing to be sworn that the distance was not 
less than ten. Our route continued through narrow mount- 
ain passes, with occasional brief stretches of woods. The 
moon shone beautifully as we jaunted along the Tokaido 
road, giving to the picturesque scenes a weirdness not un- 
like our childhood's dreams of fairyland, and producing a 
quiet exhilaration, which was not wholly negatived by a 
sense of extreme physical weariness. Traveling in the 
Japanese jaunting cars over the rough roads in the vicinity 
of Yokohama has, like every thing else in this world, its 
drawbacks. The scenes are grand, sometimes entrancing, 
and always novel, but before a forty-mile trip is concluded 
the physical results of the constant jolting protrude them- 
selves upon the senses with disagreeable pertinacity. 

We drove up to the Windsor House in Yokohama in 
true tally-ho style, dismissed our teams, and eagerly sought 
rest in our cozy couches. There is a great advantage with 
the coolie teams of Japan, which the traveler is not slow 
to appreciate. Your animals require no care, and at the 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 



75 



conclusion of the journey they are left to care for them- 
selves, the which they seem abundantly able to do. 

The following day our coolies were again brought into 
service, and we devoted a large part of the forenoon to 
shopping. The experiences we had would fill a volume, 
to which a catalogue of the purchases made would provide 
an extended appendix. In Japan a little money goes a 
great way, and as we felt like spending some, we find 
upon our hands a varied accumulation of merchandise 
which we scarcely know how to dispose of. I could pur- 
chase in Yokohama for twelve or fifteen dollars of our 
money the most lovely tea-set human eyes ever beheld. 
But what to do with it would be a problem not easy of 




Japanese Lady at Home. 

solution. Our consul told me that if these things were 
shipped home they would all have to be repacked in New 
York, besides having to pay a heavy duty. Consequently 
we will have, though much against our inclination, to curb 
the desire to select a home outfit from the varied markets 
of Yokohama. 

The Japanese appear to be divided into three distinct 



76 WHAM I SAW, 

classes. First, there are the government officials; second, 
the business men and their clerks; and third, the coolies 
or menials. Into how many classes these may be sub- 
divided I do not know, and have no means of learning. 
I believe the Japanese religion does not provide for dif- 
ferent castes, as is the case in some other Oriental countries, 
but it is difficult to determine how many subdivisions may 
exist among a people whose religion is but an advanced 
system of idolatry. I never weary of singing the praises 
of the industrious and seemingly tireless coolies. A day or 
two since I saw in the streets of Yokohama two of them 
hauling a cart which was loaded with nine bales of cotton, 
more than any draymen at home would care about bur- 
dening his horse with. There is apparently no limit to 
their capacity as beasts of burden. 

The first impression upon the mind of a tourist when 
landing in Yokohama is usually one of disappointment. 
There is a mingling of Europe and America with the 
Oriental appearance of things that is not just what the 
traveler expects. The landing is made in the foreign part 
of the city, where most of the European and American 
mercantile houses and hotels, and a few residences, are 
located. These occupy the shore side of a wide bund, or 
street, which extends for nearly two miles along the shore 
of the bay. The streets in the foreign portion of the city 
are wide and well paved with hard white stone and con- 
crete, and are lighted with gas. The sidewalks are narrow, 
but so clean are the streets kept that no discomfort results 
from walking in the carriage way. What is known as 
Main Street is as attractive as many avenues in pretentious 
cities of Europe and America. Here are located many 
fine stone-front buildings, occupied by stores, hotels, 
banks, restaurants, etc. The displays of goods in the plate- 
glass windows are such as we see in the best stores in the 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 77 

States, and do not belie the extent and variety of mer- 
chandise to be found within, much of which is of American 
manufacture. Photographic establishments, jewelry stores, 
physicians' and dentists' signs, and newspaper offices abound, 
and the hurry and bustle of the cosmopolitan crowd, 
wherein the Japanese, of course, predominate, presents a 
picture novel to the eye of the tourist, and producing in 
his mind a feeling of surprise when it is remembered 
that but a quarter of a century has elapsed since the em- 
pire of Japan was as a sealed book, where no European 
or American was to be seen. This street is devoted wholly 
to shops, and in another are to be found the establishments 
of the wholesale dealers and importers. This latter is 
more native in its appearance and characteristics, and lacks 
the bright airiness and frequent elegance that distinguishes 
the former. Most of the buildings are of stone, and many 
are fireproof store houses, or "go-downs," as they are de- 
nominated in the nomenclature of this country. In this 
street are located those vast mercantile establishments, 
usually in the hands of Englishmen, with an occasional 
American, who control the great import business of Japan. 
Here is found that ubiquitous middle man peculiar to the 
Orient, the "comprador." He is a native or a Chinaman 
who has learned sufficient of the foreign languages to 
answer the demands of trade. In his hands are placed all 
sales to natives. He is a man of vast consequence, and,. 
as might be expected, often grows rich in a manner wholly 
unaccountable to his employers. Efforts have been made^ 
to abolish the system, but it still prevails, the merchants- 
being compelled to look upon the comprador as a kind of 
necessary evil. 

If the appearance of Main Street in Yokohama is sn 
surprise to the visitor, the Bluffs are a veritable revelation.. 
Here are to be found the residences of the better classes- 



78 WHAT I SAW, 

of foreigners, the wealthy merchants, ship-owners, etc. It 
is the Fifth Avenue, the Beacon Street of Yohohania, and 
the aristocratic residents of the Bluffs are just as exclusive 
in their social relations as are their brothers and sisters of 
New York and Boston upper-tendom. There are, it is 
true, no awe-inspiring brown stone fronts or marble pal- 
aces, the houses, many of them, being but one story in 
height, and none more than two. These are surrounded 
by trim hedges and lawns, and present a picture of sub- 
urban coziness very attractive. Many of the residents have 
imported their horses and carriages, and in the evening, 
after business hours, the display of fine turn-outs reminds 
the visitor of the home scenes left behind. The drives 
in the environs of Yokohama are certainly not frequently 
surpassed elsewhere for varied scenery and attractions for 
the eye and mind. 

Some one has assigned as a reason why the sun never 
sets on British possessions, that the Almighty was afraid 
to trust an Englishman in the dark. However this may 
be, certain it is that there is no nation in the world whose 
subjects are so widely scattered as England. Throughout 
the Orient the English predominate largely among the 
foreigners. In Japan, and elsewhere in the East, the 
newspapers, the banks, the bar, and the Churches are con- 
trolled by Englishmen, and the worst infliction that an 
American visitor to Japan has to bear is the impression 
that he too is an Englishman. 

Previous to the opening of Japan to foreign trade, 
Yokohama was but an insignificant village, situated on 
the shore of the bay, and numbering scarcely more than 
a thousand people, who devoted themselves to fishing. 
Its subsequent growth and development of commercial 
importance has been remarkable. Many native residents 
of Yeddo have removed to Yokohama and engaged in the 



AND ROW I SAW IT. 79 

profitable trade of the city. Compared with other cities 
of the empire it is not very populous, but it is the center 
of commerce in Japan, and a few years hence will be 
numbered among the large cities of the East. Its history 
since the advent of foreigners has not been one of unvary- 
ing placidity. While the American intercourse with the 
Japanese has been mainly peaceful, the nations of Europe, 
those selfish representatives of a quasi civilization who 
recognize no arbitrament except that of gunpowder, have 
pursued a different course, and Yokohama suffered in con- 
sequence. Some sixteen years ago a fire occurred, which 
purified the town both materially and morally, and the 
rebuilt city is in many regards a credit to the foreign resi- 
dents, and the natives as well. 



80 WHAT I SAW, 



VIII. 

From Yokohama to Yeddo — A Japanese Railroad — The Capital 
and its People — Shopping in Yeddo — Visit to Shiba and the 
Tombs op the Tycoons — The Mikado's Castle — An Earth- 
quake. 

Yokohama, October 20, 1S81. 

The most striking evidence of progress which greets 
the visitor to Yokohama is the railroad. Twenty-five 
years ago the people of Japan had not the slightest con- 
ception of the steam engine. They looked upon the 
steamers in the fleet of Commodore Perry as demons that 
by some occult means were empowered to move against 
the winds and tides. The conception of the railroad had 
never obtruded itself upon the dreams of the most imag- 
inative subject of the Mikado. But the imitative genius 
of the people has carried them forward rapidly in the pro- 
gressive march of civilization. They have steam vessels 
officered and manned by Japanese, and a railroad from 
Yokohama to Yeddo, a distance of about twenty miles, 
built by Japanese capital and labor, and owned, con- 
trolled, and officered by natives. The road, while not as 
complete in all its appointments as the great trunk lines 
of America, is nevertheless creditable ; the cars are neat 
and tidy, the officials obliging, and the speed sufficient 
for comfort. The fare is about two and a half cents per 
mile. The tickets that are purchased at the railway sta- 
tion in Yokohama are polyglot affairs, in obedience to the 
demands of the cosmopolitan travelers. They are printed 
in six different languages. Ours read " Yokohama to 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 81 

Shinibashi," the latter being the name of that quarter of 
the Japanese capital where the railway station is situated. 
The route to Yeddo is almost a continuous succession of 
villages, each embellished with a wholly unpronounceable 
name, and presenting features that would be monotonous 
were it not that we are in a country where every thing 
is novel. The entrance to the imperial city is marked by 
two gigantic black posts. Arriving at the station, which 
is some distance further toward the center of the city, the 
visitor takes his seat in either a horse carriage or a jinri- 
kisha, and directs that he may be conveyed to the hotel of 
his choice. We stopped at the Sei Yo Ken, a hostelry 
presided over by a Japanese, and found the accomodations, 
though not superior, very good. The cooking is peculiar, 
of course, but I have traveled enough to learn that eating 
depends much more upon appetite than upon the variety of 
food or the manner of preparing it. Although the hotel is 
kept by a Japanese, its patrons are largely foreigners and 
the manner of entertainment partakes of the customs prev- 
alent in Europe and America. For instance, the meals 
are served upon tables, and the house is provided with 
arm-chairs. We were amused by an incident that occurred 
during our stay that illustrates the force of custom. After 
we 'were seated for our dinner, a number of Japanese offi- 
cials filed in, dressed in European style, but giving evi- 
dence of a certain degree of embarrassment on finding 
themselves in the presence of foreigners. In seating 
themselves at the tables, several endeavored to fold their 
legs under them, after the manner of the country, and 
were more than a little embarrassed when they found that 
an arm-chair was not built for that purpose, and that the 
foreigners present were inclined to smile at their dis- 
comfiture. 

There is much in the Japanese capital to attract the 

6 



82 



WHAT I SAW, 



attention and excite the wonderment of the visitor, but 
there is little to impress him favorably. The city is said 
to cover one hundred square miles of ground, and it may 
be that it does, but I did not pass around it, and can not 
express an opinion based upon my own judgment. One 
street, the Tori, is thirty-five miles in length — so it is 
said — but one resident to whom I intimated my skepticism 
regarding the statement admitted that it extended several 

miles through the en- 
virons and into the 
country. The streets 
run at right angles, or 
as nearly so as the 
crude Japanese geom- 
etry would permit. All 
are narrow, with no 
sidewalks, and at all 
times crowded with a 
homogeneous mass of 
officials, shopkeepers, 
and coolies talking 
and gesticulating, 
fllff laughing and scold- 
<M:-mSk mg, viewing with won- 
, ^, dering eyes the occa- 
sional appearance of 
foreigners in their 
midst, but always 
treating: them with re- 




^«itir C? OTt 11 m 



Hair Dressing in Yeddo. 
spectful civility. Tradition among the Japanese tells us 
that the population of the city was at one time in its his- 
tory over seven millions. Untoward circumstances, largely 
devastating fires, have tended to reduce the number of in- 
habitants, until now the most liberal estimate places the 



AND HO W 1 SAW IT. 83 

aggregate at one million and a half. In a number of 
places within the city we saw vast areas that had been 
swept over by fire, and had never been rebuilt. 

The climate of the Japanese capital is usually agreeable, 
though varied at times by the prevalence of high winds, 
and rain at others. There are now perhaps a thousand 
foreigners resident in the city, mainly Americans and 
Englishmen. Foreigners are not allowed to reside in the 
city outside the concession, except those connected with 
the civil or other service of Japan. 

Previous to visiting Japan we had heard much of the 
dangers attending a sojourn in the capital, of the blood- 
thirsty Samaurai, who wore two swords and amused them- 
selves by lopping off the heads of intruding foreigners. 
These Samaurai formed until within the past very few 
years a distinct class. Previous to the revolution of 1868 
they were the military retainers of the daimios, who scorned 
to labor. Naturally enough, they looked upon the advent 
of foreigners with suspicion, as likely to produce a state of 
affairs inimical to their interests, an effect that they fully 
foretold. As a consequence they were for years the terror 
of foreign residents in Japan. Recently, however, by a 
decree of the government, the perquisites of these followers 
have been withdrawn, and the custom of wearing swords, 
except by military or naval officers, abolished. As a con- 
sequence, the terrorizing Samaurai are rapidly becoming 
absorbed into the masses of the population. 

Yeddo is a place of minor commercial importance 
compared with Yokohama, the chief industry being that 
of manufacturing. At least it is called manufacturing, 
though in the United States we would perhaps be at a loss 
for a term to properly describe the crude operations, which, 
however, result in the production of some wonderfully 
beautiful and useful articles. 



84 WHAT I SAW, 

Shopping, the world over, is a science — an accomplish- 
ment which forms a large part of the education of the 
ladies, but visitors to Japan find that their acquisitions in 
that regard require revision. The shops are small affairs, 
wholly open in front, and provide for the inmates at once 
a store and a dwelling-house. If the purchaser manifests 
the slightest anxiety to buy, he will have to pay two or 
three prices for the article. The indifference of the Jap- 
anese shopkeepers, whether real or feigned, is phenomenal. 
Their actions would indicate a preference that you would 
pass on. Nor is this the outgrowth of an antipathy to for- 
eigners, because no such feeling exists, and they are equally 
indifferent toward their own people. If, however, you care- 
lessly inquire the price of an article (all merchandise is 
placed within the easy reach of customers), every member 
of the family, big Japs and little Japs, old Japs and young 
Japs, will step forward, willing but seemingly not anxious 
to answer your question. As I have said, the shop is the 
home of the entire family, not by any means always a 
small one. A space in the center, scarcely ever more than 
five feet square, answers the purpose of a dining and sleep- 
ing room. An American would soon die if compelled to 
submit to the inconvenience of such surroundings. The 
Japs, fortunately for their happiness, are cast in a different 
mold. It may be, however, that their progress to their 
present condition has been gradual, and that they have, with 
philosophical calmness, fitted themselves to circumstances. 
Certain it is that they are the jolliest, best-humored, 
most accommodating and peaceful of any race I have ever 
visited. 

One of the principal attractions in Japan is the Shiba, 
or grounds containing, in addition to a magnificent temple, 
the tombs of the various Tycoons who have ruled over 
Japan during the past few hundred years. Some of the 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 85 

tombstones are of granite, others of bronze. These monu- 
ments are attractive, but their elegance is so nearly eclipsed 
by the grandeur and beauty of the temple that they sink 
into comparative insignificance. The entrance to the tem- 
ple is up a grand staircase of eighty-five steps, and thence 
through a spacious gate. Before passing through the door 
which leads from the vestibule into the body of the tem- 
ple, we were requested to remove our shoes. This is not, 
as might be supposed, required in accord with a supposi- 
tious sacredness of the building, but simply to insure 
cleanliness. The priest, who acted as our chaperon, then 
conducted us through the gorgeous building, whose floor is 
of ebony, polished like glass. The doors are embellished 
with carving twelve inches deep, and artistically orna- 
mented with gilding. What with the hideous devices of 
the great red dragon of Japan, with its forked wings, 
flaming mane, and powerful claws, the monstrous trans- 
formation of Buddha into lions rampant and roaring, pea- 
cocks proud and strutting, and sagacious storks, stalking 
and prophesying, the inner temple is a weird combination 
of the mythical and terrifying. The extent of the build- 
ing is beyond reasonable surmise even, and the lofty roof 
is supported by vast columns. The cornice is of gilded 
carving twenty-four inches deep. The temple of Shiba is 
a vast museum of gods, in which one could devote hours 
studying the different forms which the Japanese deity is 
made to assume. Our time was limited, and the reflection 
that three-fourths of the world yet lay before us, filled with 
scenes novel and entrancing, drew us away, and we turned 
our backs upon Shiba, feeling that our wildest dreams of 
the fanciful handiwork of man fell far short of the reality. 
After this visit to Shiba, we called upon the Amer- 
ican Minister — another Ohio man, Mr. Bingham, formerly 
of Cadiz, and for several terms a Representative in Con- 



86 WHAT I SAW, 

gress. We were received very cordially by hini and his 
pleasant family. Mr. Bingham has represented the United 
States Government at the court of the Mikado for several 
years, and his duties have uniformly been performed in a 
manner satisfactory to both governments, and I hope many 
more years will elapse before that intangible and often 
mythical "political necessity" will arise demanding his 
recall. 

To Mr. Bingham we were indebted for the privilege of 
a cursory examination of the ground of the palace of the 
Mikado. The citadel, called "The Great Castle," occupies 
an immense tract in the center of the city, some nine miles 
in circumference, and is a triple fortification, the second 
and third being within the first, each in itself complete, 
with rampart, inner embankment, ditch, bastion and glacis, 
parapet, and double gates. The outer fort stands on a 
level with the plain, the second higher, and the central one 
higher still, overlooking the country and sea. The Avails 
of each are fifty feet high, built of granite blocks of mas- 
sive extent. The whole is surrounded by a moat five 
hundred feet wide, fed by a stone aqueduct which brings 
water from the mountains, a distance of twenty-five miles. 
The grounds are covered with massive trees, a variety of 
carefully cultivated shrubbery, and every device of beauty 
which ingenuity could suggest or floricultural skill execute. 
Mr. Bingham learned from the Tycoon that the forts, pal- 
aces, and ground occupied thirty-five thousand men forty- 
five years in building. All the stone, many of them of 
incredible size, were brought from the mountains by man- 
power. 

The present Mikado is but twenty-nine years of age, 
and is the one hundred and twenty-first in direct succes- 
sion, from the year 660 B. C. He has had three children, 
but all are now dead. "We did not see him, as, perhaps by 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 87 

reason of an oversight, we did not receive an invitation to 
dine at the palace. We felt somewhat slighted, and expe- 
rience some trepidation by reason of the suspicion that, 
perhaps, all the crowned heads whose possessions we shall 
honor with our presence may follow the pernicious exam- 
ple of the Mikado, and not extend their personal hospital- 
ities. In our august persons, the dignity of the city of 
Bucyrus and the pride of Crawford County, as well as the 
prestige of the great State of Ohio, have been humbled. 

As I have before observed, the city of Yeddo is not 
compactly built. Not only are there vast tracts where fire 
has devastated the place, but parks abound. The city is a 
curious conglomeration of closely packed houses and cool, 
roomy breathing places. There is little beauty outside of 
these parks and the temples. The houses are all of wood, 
usually of one story and never more than two. The 
bridges, of Avhich there are a large number, and the em- 
bankments of the canals, are, however, of stone. The 
canals are from fifteen to twenty-five feet deep, and the 
stone sides slope at an angle of about forty-five degrees. 

We visited, during our brief stay in the Japanese cap- 
ital, the great temple of Yeno, a veritable twin-sister of 
Shiba, and the " Temple of Pigeons." At the latter there 
are thousands of pigeons, fed and otherwise cared for ; also 
a myriad of monkeys, which chatter, grimace, and gener- 
ally present little evidence of a feeling of appreciation of 
the sacredness in which they are held by the idolatrous 
priests and their deluded followers. How any person can 
see any thing sacred in a beastly monkey surpasses my 
comprehension. I do not see how the least impression 
can be made upon these people by Christian missionaries, 
yet there are those who claim that they find encourage- 
ment to persevere. 

Among other places we visited was the Holy Fish 



88 WHAT I SAW, 

Pond, where there are pure white and gold fish, twelve to 
fifteen inches in length, having three tails each. I do not 
know whether their holiness is dependent upon the num- 
ber of their tails or not. Perhaps it is. 

In the center of the city is a bridge known as Niphon 
Bashi, that, though of ordinary appearance, is one of the 
most important points in Japan. From it all distances 
throughout the empire are measured. It lies in the heart 
of the city, and spans one of the widest canals. 

Yeddo is not, as has popularly been supposed, an an- 
cient city, it having been founded as recently as 1600. 
Previous to that time the castle existed, having been built 
as early as 1355. 

If it were not that earthquakes are indigenous to 
Japan, I would think that perhaps there was ill luck in 
my presence. You remember that we had a little one in 
'Frisco just before sailing for Japan, and while in Yeddo 
we were greeted with another. I had just retired to bed 
after spending the evening in discussing the sheep ques- 
tion with a resident of Australia, and was debating in my 
mind whether my companion would feel ajjpreciatively 
grateful to me if I should wake her up and inform her 
that there is a man in Melbourne who owns two million, 
sheep, when suddenly, without so much as a second's 
warning, the bed began to rock, and the floor to vary 
from a horizontal position, in a manner very mystifying 
to a temperate man. It did not last long, and I am 
powerfully glad of it. The sensation produced upon my 
nervous organism by an earthquake is not enviable. It 
always feels to me as if the bottom had fallen out of every 
thing, and I was about to drop through the hole. Nobody 
paid any attention to it except me. The Japs view these 
mundane convulsions with more equanimity than I can ever 
hope to attain. Once in a while, however, there comes 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 89 

one that wakes them up pretty thoroughly. History tells 
of one earthquake which destroyed one hundred and 
eighty-eight thousand people in the city of Yeddo alone, 
and another which, some twenty-five years ago, put an 
eternal quietus upon one hundred and four thousand. 

In leaving Yeddo, I am fully aware that I have given 
to my readers but a very imperfect picture of the great 
city. This is for the reason that I did not have a nlonth 
or a year to devote to it. Some one has said that a stran- 
ger in London can find something novel and of a char- 
acter worth detailing every hour for a year. How much 
more true must the same theory be of Yeddo, a city 
nearly as large as London, and where every thing seen 
from the moment you enter the place is strange and cu- 
rious. No one, even did he possess a pen many times 
more facile than mine, could write a thorough description 
of Yeddo in two years. I have, in my crude and perhaps 
unsatisfactory manner, endeavored to transmit an idea of 
some of the most interesting sights, but still I feel that it 
is not even an introduction to what might be written. 

We returned to Yokohama on Sunday morning. Here 
we find the foreign business houses closed on the first day 
of the week, but the natives naturally pay no heed to the 
Christian Sunday. No one can doubt that they are sin- 
cere in their devotion to a belief which seems absurd to 
us, and the question whether they must suffer eternal pun- 
ishment for a mistake which they knew not was an error 
is one which I will not attempt to discuss, much less 
solve. There is, notwithstanding the years that have 
elapsed since the revelations of the Son of God, much 
that is not clear to the inquiring mind. The poor Jap is 
just as faithful in his devotion to the religion of Buddha 
as we are, or can be, to the teachings of Christ. He is 
sincere. So are we — to some extent. But I do not de- 



90 WHAT I SAW, 

sign to run my rambling comments upon Japan and the 
Japs into a metaphysical disquisition upon theology. 

In the afternoon of Sunday we visited the Methodist 
Church Sunday-school. There were some fifty-five schol- 
ars present. Milton Vail, a Pennsylvanian who has been 
connected with educational matters in Japan for several 
years, invited us to visit his Bible class. He has four 
young Japanese men who read English quite readily. At 
my request they sang several hymns, and acquitted them- 
selves creditably. Vail told us they had altogether about 
two hundred and fifty scholars, from all parts of the city. 
He conducted us through the Theological College, and 
then to the house where the students of the college board. 
Every thing was neat and tasteful. They have a good 
home and chapel, and I never passed an hour more pleas- 
antly than with these faithful searchers for the blessed 
truths of divinity. I have heretofore criticised without 
mercy the insincere mummery which disgraces the name 
of religion among the bigoted priesthood and besotted 
laymen of Mexico. I have nothing to apologize for in 
that regard. I despise insincerity in any thing. The 
work of the missionaries in Japan, so far as my observa- 
tion extends, is worthy the confidence of every Christian. 
They are undoubtedly faithfully following their chosen 
work, and God will surely bless them and their labors. 
The missionaries by opening up the benighted minds of 
the Japanese are performing a work of inestimable value 
to the cause of Christianity, and at the same time are ex- 
erting, quietly and unostentatiously, an influence which 
will be felt in drawing into more intimate relations with 
Japan the Christian nations of the earth. 

After Sunday-school, Mr. Vail invited us to spend an 
hour at his study, and he showed us several rare old Jap- 
anese books. They are of peculiar construction, being 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 91 

about eight inches square, and fold together like a fan. 
Paper does not seem to have been available at the time 
they were printed, as the material is a stiff silk. We 
could, were we so disposed, collect an attractive museum 
of curiosities in Japan and the other countries we will 
visit, but of course there is a limit to our facilities for 
transportation, and while anxious to secure only those 
specimens which will prove the most curious to our friends, 
it may be that we will imitate the man who sought a pe- 
culiarly straight stick in a wood, and passing by so many 
that he imagined were not quite complete enough, found 
when he had passed through the wood that he must needs 
content himself with a crooked stick at last. 

We have made arrangements for sailing to-morrow 
(the 19th) for Hiogo, in the west part of Japan, and I 
will mail my next from that port. 



92 WHAT I SAW, 



IX. 



Hiogo, Kioto, and the Vicinity — A Visit to Japan's Ancient Cap- 
ital — More of the Temples and Hotels — A Japanese Cobbler 
and his Shop — The Cultivation of Tea and Rice — A Primitive 
Manner of Harvesting. 

Hiogo, Japan, October 24, 1881. 

In our hurried, and consequently to a large extent 
superficial, view of Japan, we have reached this point, 
located on an arm of the inland sea, and distant thirty-six 
hours by steamer from Yokohama. Our vessel was a Jap- 
anese steamer, the Hiroshima-maru, of American build. 
The accommodations were excellent, and the attention 
thoughtful and courteous. The vessel is a model of 
neatness, and the stateroom which we occupied superior 
even to the accommodations provided on the Pacific 
Mail steamers. Among the passengers were two lady 
missionaries going to Hiogo (or Kiobe, as it is some- 
times called), one from Pennsylvania and the other from 
New York. From such acquaintance as the limited time 
permitted, I was led to renewed respect for the devoted 
singleness of purpose which leads these ladies to for- 
sake home, friends, and country to teach the semi-civ- 
ilized Japanese the "way of life." Their lot need not be 
envied, particularly when it is remembered that they go 
three hundred miles into the interior, traveling mostly on 
foot, where they will be far beyond the outposts of civili- 
zation, with little companionship beyond themselves. May 
the grace of God accompany them, and bring to them 
happiness amid surroundings where I, at least, would not 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 93 

expect to find it. We had also on board the vessel the 
Corean ambassadors, who had been to Yeddo concerning 
the stipulations of a treaty entered into between Corea and 
Japan. Corea, a peninsula lying west of Japan and south 
of Mantchooria, being a part of the mainland of the conti- 
nent of Asia, has long been a bone of contention between 
China and Japan. At various periods the two nations 
have growled and spit at each other like a couple of en- 
raged tom-cats, with many wordy threats of fight, but, as 
is quite usual with our Mongolian antipodes, it ended in 
words. China finally waived her claims upon Corea, and 
a treaty has been signed between Corea and Japan, under 
which the former becomes a dependency of the latter. 
These Coreans, judging from the specimens we saw, possess 
little of the physical peculiarities of the Mongolians. They 
are of a lighter complexion, with beards, tall and shapely, 
and would weigh an average, I judge, of one hundred and 
fifty pounds. They were quick, nervous, and decided in their 
movements, and, I would think, would prove quite formid- 
able in war. Their dress is peculiar, being confined, so far 
as my observation extended, to a long blue robe or gown. 
This inland sea, of which I have spoken, is by many 
travelers accounted the most beautiful sheet of water in 
the world. To this I will not add my testimony, as after 
I have seen other attractive scenes I might be compelled 
to revise it. The vessel threaded its way through innum- 
erable islands, where there was barely room to pass. Each 
island is an elysium in appearance, covered with verdure, 
and presenting in their continuous succession a moving 
panorama of entrancing beauty such as our eyes certainly 
never before beheld. This most luxuriant vegetation comes 
down to the water's edge, and the water being at all times 
placid there is little or no surf, which, while adding to 
beauty in one regard, often detracts from it in another. 



94 WHAT I SAW, 

The mountain formations of Japan, in all parts which 
we have visited, are peculiar, to some extent, in their 
abruptness, with sides furrowed and seamed by the attrition 
of the elements during ages past. Judging from appear- 
ances, ascent would be impossible, but we have found it 
scarcely ever even difficult, when under the control of the 
industrious and ever faithful coolies. These gullies, or in- 
cipient canyons, furnish the highway up which the traveler 
is conducted with safety and dispatch. The traveling is 
not either so smooth or expeditious as following behind a 
pair of 2.40 trotters on a wood pavement, but it is progress. 
My advice to people who expect to find in traveling those 
comforts, conveniences, and luxuries to which they are 
accustomed at home, is not to venture beyond the limits of 
the States. Inconvenience and discomfort are the penalties 
which every wanderer pays for the privilege of satisfying 
his curiosity. 

We had the pleasure of witnessing during our short 
voyage from Yokohama the "fire practice" of the steamer's 
crew. An alarm was given, and almost in less time than 
is necessary for the reader to cast his eye along this line 
every man of the crew was at his post and several streams 
of water were being directed against an imaginary fire. 
Such a display of efficiency and discipline went far to 
allay the nervous dread of fire which even the most hard- 
ened ocean traveler experiences. 

Our brief voyage ended on the 21st, and we landed at 
Hiogo. Having shipped our trunks to China direct from 
Yokohama, we are provided with only our hand-bags for 
the seven days' stay which we will make in this part of 
Japan. "We stopped here at the Hiogo Hotel, kept by a 
Yankee from the shores of Cape Cod. We rather missed 
the omnipresent Ohio man — that venturesome, enterprising 
Buckeye, who is to be found almost everywhere. Our 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 95 

landlord on this occasion is a true down-easter, having all 
the shrewd enterprise and cunning ingenuity of the typical 
Yankee. The holstery over which he presides is credita- 
ble to his capacity as a caterer to the comforts of the 
traveling public, and to the great and ge-lorious country 
from which he hails. 

Hiogo is one of the United States treaty ports. It is 
not a large city, but quite presentable in appearance. It 
is one point among many others where the stranger must 
look to those very necessary evils, his passports for the 
interior. The Japanese officials were neither very inquisi- 
tive nor exorbitant in their charges. They probably 
look upon all foreigners as a species of innocent bar- 
barians, who seek information upon the advanced enlight- 
enment of Japan, and they are disposed, as a consequence, 
to afford them every facility in their power, consistent with 
a proper regard for the dignity of the Mikado's govern- 
ment. They charged us for the honor perhaps of answer- 
ing their limited queries the munificent sum of ten cents, 
and, with these little bits of paper, covered with hiero- 
glyphics, which are as unintelligible to us as the inscrip- 
tions upon the ancient tombs of Egypt, we are privileged 
to go out into the country a distance of fifty miles, and 
ask a million questions of the natives which they will not 
comprehend any more than we will be able to understand 
their replies. This traveling in a country whose language 
you do not understand and could not learn in twenty 
years, has its disadvantages to the seeker after information, 
particularly to a member of the universally inquisitive 
Yankee nation. 

And these passports ! How do we know that the 
cabalistic designs thereon, resembling nothing so much 
as a fly vigorously smashed on a sheet of paper, are 
not really an order to some official satrap away up in the 



96 WHAT I SAW, 

country to summarily cut off our respective heads ? The 
danger, however, is not sufficiently imminent to disturb 
our equanimity. Still it is but seventeen years since a 
terrible massacre of foreigners took place in this same city 
of Hiogo, almost within sight of the window at which I 
am writing. The European settlement and the native city 
are separated by a road, and it was while the Japanese 
army was passing along this that the soldiers fired upon 
the foreigners. It was but an exhibition of the mob spirit, 
and was severely punished by the Japanese government, 
seventeen of the ringleaders being compelled to disem- 
bowel themselves, or commit hari-kari, as they call it, 
I believe, in the beastly language of this country. Since 
that time Japan has been as safe to travelers as any part 
of the United States, and safer than some. It is probable, 
and natural as well, that when Japan was thrown open to 
the trade of other nations, there was considerable feeling 
against the foreigners. They were looked upon as in- 
truders — a people devoted to the idea of overturning the 
civilization of Japan and erecting in its stead a new order 
of things. In this regard the judgment of the Japanese 
was correct. But all feeling of resentment has passed 
away, and the people are rapidly conforming to European 
and American ideas of business and social life. Of course, 
the impression is as yet confined almost wholly to the 
cities, but it will spread, and many decades will not elajyse 
before the customs of the Caucasians, the bad as well as 
the good, will prevail largely in nearly every part of the 
empire. 

With only seven days in which to explore this part of 
Japan, we could not afford to lose any time. So on the 
afternoon of the next day after our arrival we paid a visit 
to a neighboring waterfall that exceeds any thing in the 
cataract line that we have seen. The stream composing 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 97 

the cascade is fully twenty feet wide, and descends with a 
direct fall of one thousand feet, followed by other falls of 
varying height until it reaches the valley below, a distance 
of three thousand five hundred feet. The surrounding 
scenery, while attractively beautiful, is not so awe-inspiring 
as that of the Yosemite, but the cataract, designated by 
some wholly unpronounceable name, equals the celebrated 
Nevada Fall. 

Among the other points contiguous to the city which 
we visited was the " Pony Temple," so called from the fact 
that here, in a magnificent temple, is kept a beautiful 
pony, with Avhite eyes and skin, that is devoutly wor- 
shiped by every true disciple of Buddha. Every visitor 
is expected to contribute a small amount to buy food for 
this sacred horse. We, being just a little weary of this 
constant repetition of beastly sacredness, can guarantee 
that that pony will never get fat on the contribution Ave 
made. 

Ever since we were little children, and first began to 
read of Oriental mysteries, I have had a desire to visit a 
Chinese or Japanese theater. So far, I am happy to say, 
as a Japanese play house is concerned, that wish has been 
satisfied, that desire satiated. The theater which Ave pat- 
ronized Avas built of bamboo, about forty feet square. 
This little room contained the performers, the orchestra, 
and a limited audience. That orchestra! Its "concord 
of sweet sounds" still rings in my ears. Some one has 
said that " music hath charms to soothe the savage breast." 
Well, may be it has, but that Japanese music had just a 
contrary effect upon mine. I was not soothed to any ex- 
tent. " On the contrary, quite the reverse." The orches- 
tra consisted of something that I suppose Avas dignified 
Avith the name of drum, but which I am firmly conA'inced 
was the rim of an ordinary cheese box Avith a leather 

7 



98 WHAT I SAW, 

stretched over the ends, and a bamboo reed instrument. 
Since hearing the conglomeration of hideous sounds which 
the players produced, I have lost all respect for cheese 
boxes and bamboo. The idea strikes me that perhaps 
from the outfit of a Japanese orchestra came our word 
" bamboozle." The performance on the stage was of the 
nature of juggling or dextrous sleight-of-hand. Among 
other feats was the spinning of a top on the edge of a 
sword and on the periphery of a fan. Other acts were 
performed, but none exceeding, or equaling, for that mat- 
ter, the feats of sleight performers often seen in America. 

The streets of Hiogo are narrow, but clean. One fea- 
ture of American civilization the Japs have as yet failed 
to absorb. They have no idea whatever of the use of 
a sidewalk, and in the cities and towns the pedestrians 
and vehicles are mixed together, often in the greatest 
confusion. 

The people here are the antipodes of their enlightened 
fellow humans in more senses than one. The carpenters, 
for instance, always draw the plane and saw towards them. 
A peculiarity I note in the construction of stone walls. 
The stones are cut about one foot square and are laid dia- 
mond shape so that as the walls settle they will pack 
more firmly together. It may be that our builders could 
learn a valuable lesson from this primitive practice of 
the Japanese. All the crockery ware is actually painted 
by hand. We witnessed the operation, and while it is 
tedious and of little profit, it serves to occupy the atten- 
tion and time of many in a land where labor is cheap 
and laborers but beasts of burden. 

On Saturday, the 22d, we traveled by rail a distance 
of fifty miles to Kioto, once the capital of all Japan. It 
is still a large city, with even more than the usual num- 
ber of temples and idols. In one temple alone there are 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 99 

no less than one thousand idols, each five feet high and 
embellished with six arms. They are made of brass, and 
are placed some inside the temple and others on terraces, 
presenting an attractive sight. Near the same temple we 
saw an immense bell, resting on the ground, which is 
fourteen feet high and ten inches thick. Whether this 
gigantic tinkler was ever suspended, I could not learn. 
As a matter of fact, not the least exaggerated, Kioto is a 
city composed almost wholly of temples. There are tem- 
ples for monkeys, temples for horses, temples for foxes 
and temples devoted to nearly every species of animal 
that walks the earth or bird that flies through the air. 
At the temple of foxes, these cunning carnivora actually 
come down from the mountains to be fed. We are sur- 
feited with temples and gods. The wealth of the city is 
largely put into these idolatrous structures, and the dwell- 
ing houses are by no means elegant piles, mainly of one, 
and never more than two stories. 

Every once in a while, we have an experience, some- 
times seriously annoying but commonly ludicrous. At 
Kioto, as the result of much pedestrianizing, one of my 
boots required repairing, and we entered the shop of a 
meek-eyed cobbler to negotiate. The room was a very 
small one, and served the purposes of both shop and resi- 
dence. The cobbler did a reasonably good job, but I was 
amused to see him stop and whittle out the necessary 
wooden pegs. While seated there awaiting the completion 
of the work, the lady of the house coolly arose, washed 
her face and calmly removed her dress and put on another 
as a preliminary to a walk. My reflections as I witnessed 
the operation were twofold. First, I thought I could 
stand it if she could, and second, I was thankful that I 
had Mrs. Converse along to protect me. I always take her 
with me whenever I go out in Japan. She will carefully 



100 WHAT I SAW, 

see that I am not called upon to play the very uncertain 
part of Joseph to any of these Japanese Mrs. Potiphars. 
After completing our errand with the shoemaker, we 
visited the silk stores and feasted our wondering eyes 
upon embroidered stuffs that would arouse the covetous- 
ness of an ascetic. They are certainly more fine in qual- 
ity, unique in design, and elegant in finish, as well as ex- 
orbitant in price, than any products of the looms we 
have ever seen. These silk dealers differ in one material 
regard from other Japanese merchants or shopmen. They 
adhere tenaciously to the price first fixed upon their wares. 
Being struck by the particular elegance of one table- 
spread, I inquired the price, and was told eighty dollars. 
The fabric, I have no doubt, was well worth the money, 
but I essayed the same tactics which universally prevail 
in other lines of trade, and offered him twenty. I do not 
know whether the amiable Jap was offended, but there 
passed over his normally mobile features a peculiar ex- 
pression and I was unable to tell if it were disgust, sur- 
prise, or pity. Anyway, I did not secure the spread. 

Our hotel at Kioto was what might be termed utterly 
Japanese. In fact our entire surroundings in this ancient 
capital of Japan were so strange, so different from the 
customs prevailing in America or Europe, as to suggest 
the suspicion that perhaps by some occult process we had 
been transferred to another planet, peopled by a creation 
wholly different from our own. The hotel is of bamboo, 
one story in height. "We occupied a front room, with 
matting-covered floor, sliding doors and windows in which 
oiled paper served as a poor substitute for glass. The 
fare is composed of an infinite variety of dishes, in which 
we could distinguish fish, eggs, and rice. These edibles 
we are familiar with, but beyond them we can only sur- 
mise, and a very poor guess I have no doubt it is. 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 101 

We have studied and become proficient in the manner 
of Japanese salutations. Here no one shakes hands, but 
on meeting each bows almost to the ground. I expect it 
would amuse my readers more than a little to witness us 
going through the necessary series of genuflexions. But 
there is an old adage that visitors to Rome must conform 
to the customs of the Romans, and the same should be 
equally binding upon sojourners in Japan. 

At Kioto we were fifty miles beyond the treaty bound- 
aries, and actually in the heart of Japan, where not a word 
of English is spoken. This is, of course, very incon- 
venient to travelers, but there is, the world over, an un- 
written system of signs, which are often made to do val- 
uable and necessary service. We were out of the route 
usually followed by foreigners, and of course our appear- 
ance excited great curiosity among the natives, not un- 
mixed with consternation on the part of the juveniles. 
Mrs. Converse was viewed as a veritable curiosity, occa- 
sioned probably by the elaborateness of her apparel, it 
being something entirely strange to the simple-minded 
Japs. On the occasion of our visit to Kioto she wore a 
heavily beaded cape. These beads were the source of 
great wonder on the part of the natives. They would slip 
up behind her and eagerly clutch a bead and jump back, 
happy if they had secured one of the shining treasures. 
Doubtless many of the poor creatures had never before 
looked upon a white woman, and their wonderment is ex- 
cusable. Our room at the hotel was besieged by peddlers, 
whose wares consisted of a vast variety, both beautiful 
and curious. These peripatetic venders differ from the silk 
merchants in not having established the rigid " one price " 
system. If they ask ten dollars for an article, you can 
very readily obtain it for three, or even less. 

I understand there are some missionaries at Kioto, but 



102 WHAT I SAW, 

we did not know where or how to find them. We were 
disappointed much thereby, as they would have been to us 
an invaluable aid in pursuing our course of sight-seeing. 

That part of Japan contiguous to Kioto, and from 
thence to Osaka and back to Hiogo, is devoted largely to 
the cultivation of tea and rice. It is probable that these 
crops extend over most parts of the empire, but I speak 
only of what we have seen. Tea grows on the foot-hills, 
in rows about five feet apart. The bushes are about 
three feet high. The tea as made from the virgin leaf is 
much superior to that we get in the States. The reason 
why the tea we use in America is so inferior to that ob- 
tained in Japan or China is that the exported article is 
necessarily fired or cooked before shipped. The leaves 
would be spoiled by the dampness of a sea voyage if this 
was not done. This firing or cooking destroys, to a great 
extent, the flavor which distinguishes the tea brewed from 
the virgin plant. Rice grows in the low grounds, like in 
our Southern States, but comes up from the same roots 
for several consecutive years. The ground, of course, is 
periodically flooded. At this season of the year the crop 
is being harvested. 

Perhaps it should not be the source of surprise, but I 
have been forcibly struck with the primitive way in which 
farm labor of all kinds is conducted in Japan. Heretofore 
I have spoken briefly of the manner in which these oper- 
ations are carried on in the vicinity of Yokohama. While 
in Kioto we witnessed the working of a flour mill which is 
something of an improvement upon others, and undoubt- 
edly is looked upon by the builder as a praiseworthy 
achievement of applied mechanical genius. A large stone 
is hollowed out for a mortar. A wooden hammer or 
pestle is fitted into this, and connected to a plank that is 
balanced across a beam, and from the other end a naked 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 103 

man operates the pounding process by depressing the lever 
and then, by letting it go, allowing the hammer to fall 
upon the millet or other grain deposited in the mortar. 
Cleaning or in any way removing the bran from the flour 
thus imperfectly produced is unknown, and the entire 
nauseating mess is made into bread for the natives, which 
it must require a determined will to swallow and a strong 
stomach to retain. I more than suspect, however, that 
the flour thus obtained is healthier than the compounds of 
pulverized wheat, marble dust, lime, and plaster-of-paris 
which irritate the stomachs of people in more civilized 
countries. The process of harvesting is absolutely amusing. 
It is not necessary to say that the Japanese have no self- 
binding reapers ; neither have they learned the secret of 
the old-fashioned cradle. They adhere to the primitive 
sickle, and do not use that with the vim and vigor 
our grandfathers did. A Japanese harvester grasps the 
sickle mechanically in his hand, seats himself upon the 
ground, and in the most leisurely manner possible clips 
off the grain as far on each hand and in front as he can 
reach. Then he hops forward, much after the manner of 
a frog, and repeats the operation. I should estimate that 
a really industrious Jap could harvest, perhaps, as much 
as an acre in a week of studious application. 



104 WHAT I SAW, 



X. 



Still in the Land op the Japs — Osaka — Its Appearance and Sur- 
roundings — Observations Upon the People and Their Cus- 
toms — The Expenses of a Trip to the Mikado's Empire — Many 
Pleasures and Some Drawbacks Attending it. 

Hiogo, Japan, October 26, 188 1. 

In my last I left those of our friends who care to fol- 
low us in our wanderings at Kioto, metaphorically, of 
course, with a promise to speak of our visit to Osaka, and 
the points of interest there developed. Osaka is twenty 
miles distant from Hiogo, and seemingly bears the same 
relation to the latter that Yeddo does to Yokohama. As 
the result largely of removals to the more thrifty and pro- 
gressive city of Yokohama, the population of Yeddo has 
been largely reduced since the opening of the empire to 
foreign trade and immigration. This has, however, not 
proven the case in the relations of Hiogo and Osaka. 
While the former has increased in population and impor- 
tance, the latter has well held its position. The population 
of Osaka is placed at half a million. It may be more or 
less. So far as our observation is worthy of consideration, 
we can only say that it is a large, bustling city, with the 
usual narrow streets and one-story residences and shops, 
where every one seems busy — engaged in hurriedly doing 
something. The reason why Osaka is not, and probably 
never can be, a port of commercial importance is found in 
the bar which effectually obstructs the entrance into the 
bay of vessels drawing more than four feet of water. The 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 1 05 

confluence of two rivers with the sea forms the harbor of 
Osaka. Before entering the bay these rivers are formed 
into canals, which are connected at brief intervals by cross 
canals, forming convenient means of communication with 
most parts of the city by the immense flotilla of shallops, 
which at all times crowd the aqueous thoroughfares. 
These boats are the homes of thousands of the people, 
who not only live upon the water, but ply their various 
vocations as industriously and apparently as successfully as 
their brethren upon the land. The bay or gulf of Osaka 
is a picturesque body of water, whose shores are thickly 
studded with villages, clustering together down to the 
water edge. The hills slope abruptly, and are terraced 
and irrigated so that every foot of the soil is made pro- 
ductive to an extent scarcely to be imagined in the States. 
This systematic and thorough cultivation is not, as we had 
supposed, simply the result of thriftiness upon the part of 
the people. It is, like most other things in Japan, con- 
trolled by law. An imperial edict, so old that history 
does not mention the date, compels the thorough cultiva- 
tion of the land, on penalty of confiscation. The Mikado 
was doubtless influenced by two considerations in thus 
compelling industry on the part of his subjects. First, in 
a population so dense as that of Japan, any neglect of the 
development of the resources of the soil would curtail the 
means of continued existence to an alarming extent; and 
second, the revenues of the empire are naturally increased 
in proportion as the production is increased. In Japan 
the complaint of land "wearing out" is never heard. On 
the contrary, soil that was originally of an inferior quality 
has been so carefully manured as to have reached a degree 
of productiveness absolutely astonishing. All the night 
soil from the cities is carefully preserved and utilized. 
Although the Japs are primitive in their modes of oulti- 



106 WHAT I SAW, 

vation, as in every thing else, yet, in the matter of securing 
and preserving the productiveness of the soil they could 
teach the American agriculturists. The people here learned 
from necessity, and it is probable that, centuries hence, 
when the population of the United States becomes as dense 
as is now that of Japan, the American farmers will receive 
instruction from the same remorseless teacher. 

Situated on the summit of the highest mountain con- 
tiguous to the city of Osaka is the "Temple of the Moon." 
It is a beautiful structure in the form of a tower, each 
story having a roof projecting from the building and rest- 
ing upon white columns. The roofs are gilded, and in the 
sunlight shine with dazzling brilliancy. We made our 
observations from a distance, as the constant succession of 
temples has produced a mental surfeit. Just why a temple 
should be erected to the moon we did not learn. It is 
probably for the same reason that similar edifices are ded- 
icated to horses, cattle, monkeys, foxes, and pigeons. The 
Japs have a multitude of deities — enough, I should think, 
to supply the whole world with a (not very) choice variety 
of gods. 

The boast of Osaka is its castle or citadel, an imperial 
residence and fortress of the former tycoons. We were 
kindly permitted to examine the immense structure at our 
leisure. It occupies, I should estimate, about one hundred 
acres of ground, the whole surrounded by a wall eighty 
feet in height and a deep moat. The first thing to arouse 
the wonder of the beholder as he nears the wall is the 
immense stones used in its construction, many of which 
are forty feet long, fifteen feet high, and six feet thick. 
The citadel, it must be remembered, is situated upon a 
high hill, and many of these immense stones are placed 
in the wall thirty feet above its base. By what means 
were these stones conveyed from the distant quarries and 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 107 

placed in position in the wall? Some mechanical appli- 
ances, unknown at the present clay, must have been used. 
It is impossible that they could have been handled with- 
out, as not a sufficient number of men could get hold to 
move them, much less transport them for miles and ele- 
vate them to their present positions. Neither is there any 
mechanical engine of the present day, the outgrowth of 
civilization and scientific discovery, that could accomplish 
the task. 

The castle previous to the civil war of 1864-6 was 
garrisoned by the Tycoon, but now it is a school of mili- 
tary instruction. We witnessed the drill of the soldiers, 
and were more than a little amused at the comical appear- 
ance of the little bowlegged Japs, in European uniforms, 
under the instruction of French officers, as they awk- 
wardly passed through the evolutions. The Mikado's 
army, as I understand, amounts to forty-three thousand 
men on a peace footing, as at presei-t, with drilled re- 
serves sufficient to increase it to ninety thousand. I was 
not very favorably impressed with the Japanese soldiers. 
They are pretty well supplied with European arms, but 
they do not seem to handle either their arms or them- 
selves in a manner calculated to produce a feeling of awe 
in the minds of enemies. The Japanese is not a warlike 
race, and it requires a ludicrous stretch of the imagination 
to fancy the mild-mannered little fellows engaged in war. 

At Osaka we were the victims of another " episode," 
seemingly much more serious than that in the cobbler's 
shop mentioned in my last letter. When we started out 
from the hotel I paid our coolie attendants, and supposed 
that every thing was satisfactory. Suddenly there was 
trouble, loud talk, and seemingly threatening gesticula- 
tions. I was astonished, bewildered, and, I may as well 
admit, frightened. We were not aware that we had done 



108 WHAT I SAW, 

any thing to cause all this noisy hubbub and dire confu- 
sion, and did not know what to make of it. Just as I 
was making up my mind that we would probably be or- 
dered at once to execution, a policeman who fortunately 
could speak a few words of English, stepped up and in- 
formed us that we owed our attendants sixty cents. 
Blessed relief! The money was instantly paid, and quiet 
reigned once more in Osaka. They could have had twice 
as many dollars for the asking. My readers will observe 
that in speaking of this and other nerve-rasping experi- 
ences I usually use the first person singular. To say 
"we" in detailing the troubled feelings would be a gross 
injustice to my worthy companion. She never gets fright- 
ened, and is as imperturbably cool in the presence of a 
howling Japanese mob as she was among the Apache In- 
dians of Arizona. She was, however, aroused to resent- 
ment at the action of the good-natured policeman who in- 
dulged in a hearty laugh at our expense. She does not 
like to be laughed at. Neither do I, but I would rather, 
much rather, be the object of a Japanese joke than the 
subject of a Japanese headsman. 

Osaka is more regularly laid out than any Japanese 
city we have seen, and the streets, though narrow, are 
clean. The myriad of bridges crossing the canals are 
models of light neatness, built of cedar, and of a strength 
which one would not expect from their appearance. 

The traveler in Japan is led to wonder why, in a coun- 
try where building stone is so cheap, it is not used for 
that purpose to a greater extent. The Japanese have 
learned by experience that the lighter the material used 
in constructing their dwellings the greater the safety of 
the inmates. Earthquakes are indigenous to Japan. Here 
they flourish to an extent almost unknown elsewhere. In 
fact, I might say that terrestrial uneasiness is the normal 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 109 

condition of Japan. The earth seems to be afflicted with 
a kind of intermittent St. "Vitus' dance, with the inter- 
missions of brief duration and not at all times well de- 
fined. Some of the earthquakes during the past have been 
very destructive, surpassing any others in history, on one 
occasion destroying over one hundred thousand lives in 
the city of Yeddo alone. The light bamboo frames and 
thatched roofs of which the Japanese houses are usually 
composed, while not absolutely earthquake proof, are much 
nearer so than would be buildings of brick or stone, and 
if they do rattle down around the ears of the inmates, but 
little injury is inflicted. So far as our observation ex- 
tends, I am led to the conclusion that the more than 
three thousand islands which compose the empire of Japan 
are of volcanic formation, thrown up in an age long past 
by some grand upheaval of nature, before the earth had 
settled down to its present comparative quietude. The 
abundance of fresh water is a peculiarity of the country. 
There are numerous rivers which, though short, pour into 
the sea an immense volume of water. Owing to the hilly 
nature of the country, these streams, frequently until they 
approach within a short distance of the mouth, are simply 
vast mountain torrents, and consequently not navigable. 
I believe there is not a river in Japan which is navigable 
for a distance of more than ten miles from its mouth. 
Springs bubble from the hills and mountains in profusion, 
providing an abundance of water for irrigating purposes, 
which, in some places, is absolutely necessary. In many 
sections a bamboo pole thrust into the ground a foot or 
two and withdrawn will be followed by a jet of water, 
which will continue to flow as long as the orifice remains 
unobstructed. 

Social life in Japan differs to some extent from that 
of other Oriental nations. Polygamy is not permitted, 



110 WHAT I SAW, 

even among the nobility. While, however, no man is 
allowed more than one wife, he can have as many concu- 
bines as his wealth may permit or his inclinations suggest. 
Prostitution, I am sorry to say, seems to be the rule in 
Japan and virtue the exception. I am told that formerly 
the loose classes were confined to particular sections of the 
cities, but if such a law is now in existence it is a dead 
letter, as the houses of "easy access" seem to exist every- 
where, being perhaps a little more numerous in the vicinity 
of the temples. I would not intimate that such an arrange- 
ment is for the convenience of the priests, but the fact is 
suggestive nevertheless. The open solicitation upon the 
streets is a little embarrassing, particularly when one is 
accompanied by a lady, but the natives view such things 
as natural enough and perfectly legitimate, and we can 
not do better than to follow their example in that regard. 
An unwedded female of marriageable age is considered a 
disgrace, and the poor creatures probably fall naturally 
into evil ways. I notice that in the cities the custom of 
married women shaving their eyebrows and blacking their 
teeth is rapidly dying out, as also the practice of the men 
shaving the crown of the head. The male sex adopts the 
costumes and habits of civilization much more readily 
than their sisters. Many of the former have discarded 
the native garments entirely, and appear upon the streets 
and in the shops clad in clothing of European and Ameri- 
can style. The women, however, cling tenaciously to the 
outre habiliments which have distinguished the race for 
perhaps countless centuries. I speak here of the middle 
classes, the merchants, shopmen, etc., and all those en- 
gaged in trade. The nobility, so far at least as our ob- 
servation extended, continue the styles adopted by their 
forefathers. The coolies, or lower classes, are adorned 
mainly as provided by nature. This applies only, how- 



AND HOW I SA W IT. Ill 

ever, to the males. The females are clad in a profusion 
of garments, not very elegant or tasteful, and of a pecul- 
iarity of design that would horrify the mantua-makers of 
America, but still more than sufficient to protect their 
modesty ; that is, supposing they are possessed of any such 
a virtue, which I am much disposed to doubt — at least I 
have never been able to discover it. Nor does this lack 
of modesty, as we Americans understand the term, attach 
only to the coolies. All classes frequent the bathing places, 
where, in the purity of nature, they mingle irrespective of 
sex. The picture presented by a mother supplying her 
youthful offspring Avith the sustenance provided by nature, 
with an exposure of maternal charms that would shock an 
American woman, is a common, I might say a universal, 
street scene. At first I was horrified, but I guess I must 
be getting used to it. Such things I had never witnessed 
since the days when my own maternal sustenance was 
withdrawn, now some several years since. There is an 
old saying that "much depends upon how a person was 
raised." Custom makes all laws except divine, and what 
we view as violations of the fundamental principles of 
decency is looked upon by our Japanese brethren as within 
the bounds of strict propriety. 

My readers must remember that in our brief travels in 
Japan we have touched only the southern and eastern 
portions of the island of Niphon, composing the main part 
of the empire. The country extends over about twenty- 
five degrees of latitude, or from the thirtieth to the fifty- 
fifth parallel. The cities of Yokohama, Yeddo, Hiogo, 
Kioto, and Osaka are located in the south and east parts. 
In addition to these cities, we have visited, I should judge, 
nearly one hundred villages. These are located in the 
valleys or on the plateaus, where tea and rice can be 
grown. The mountains produce little except wood of the 
pine species, although I have no doubt wheat and others 



112 WHAT I SAW, 

of the more hardy cereals are cultivated to some extent. 
In the low portions the bamboo flourishes. The trees 
frequently reach a height of from sixty to eighty feet, and 
five or eight inches in diameter. The wood is used for 
every conceivable purpose except that of food. I have 
never yet heard of a Japanese eating bamboo, but I would 
not be at all surprised to learn that they did. 

In America we hear much of Japanese lacquer-ware, 
and frequently see specimens that are represented to be 
genuine. All such claims are spurious. Genuine Japan- 
ese lacquer work, though sometimes doubtless seen in the 
States, is so costly as to be far beyond the reach of plebeians 
of the common herd. In its primitive state the lacquer is 
the sap from a tree. It is brought to a heat and a varnish 
made. This is applied to the ware, in successive coats, 
and the best grade takes fully twenty years to complete, 
applying the substance as often as the previous application 
dries. When properly done, it will resist fire, water, and 
every other destructive agency known. 

What is called "Satsuma stone- ware" is a peculiar 
kind of china ware, made some three hundred years ago, 
under the Satsuma reign. The art of its manufacture has 
been lost, and the ware is very rare and costly, a plate 
eight inches in diameter selling readily at from fifteen to 
twenty dollars. Its beauty lies in the artistic designs of 
the ornamentation, which usually consists of an elaborate 
painting, complete in all its details, representing some 
scene in Japanese landscape, or sketch of Japanese life. 

If any of my readers should fancy a flying trip to the 

land of the Japs, they will be interested in a statement of 

the expenses, which I herewith append: 

New York to California, $150 00 

California to Japan, 250 00 

Four weeks in Japan, hotel bills, attendants, etc., . . 150 00 
Return to New York, 400 00 

S950 00 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 113 

By purchasing a round trip ticket on the steamer from 
San Francisco to Yokohama you can secure a reduction 
of one-fourth. This, understand, is the absolutely neces- 
sary expense. Traveling in Japan is like traveling every- 
where else. While there is a certain amount which you 
must spend, you can increase your expenses indefinitely. 
These four weeks in Japan will enable you to visit only a 
small part of the empire, but sufficient to gain an insight 
into the manners and customs of the people. I can prom- 
ise any one that they Avill see many curious things, many 
more, in fact, than I have had time or space to mention, 
and many others a description of which would not look 
well in print. Traveling in Japan is as safe as any- 
where in the world, albeit a little inconvenient, owing 
to lack of knowledge of the language. Much information 
of a curious and valuable character is for this reason lost; 
but a limited knowledge of English, sufficient for purposes 
of ordinary intercourse, is being secured by many of the 
natives in the cities, and within ten years sight-seeing in 
Japan will become much more satisfactory. The great 
secret in traveling is to never be in a hurry. Take every 
thing philosophically. The chances are ten to one that you 
are just as much of a curiosity to the natives as they are to 
you, and they are just as anxious to satisfy their thirst for 
information as you are. In Japan the coolie attendants 
can be thoroughly depended upon. We have had no 
fear among them. Traveling over and through the rough 
mountain passes, many not more than ten feet wide and 
hundreds high, where they could have disposed of us with 
the greatest facility, we felt not a tremor of uneasiness ; 
no suspicion of their faithfulness. As a class, I am satis- 
fied they are kind and honest, as I know they are safe 
companions. 

Naturally enough we are beginning to feel anxious for 



114 WHAT I SAW, 

news from home. The day we sailed from San Francisco 
we learned of the death of President Garfield, which took 
place the night before. Nothing additional has come to 
us, as this was all the information telegraphed to the 
American minister at Yeddo. We are now sixty days from 
home, and in eighty we hope to hear from our friends. 

This is the last letter from Japan. We have yet two 
points to visit in the Mikado's empire, where we will tarry 
for a day each, a brief account of which will appear in 
my next, dated Shanghai, China, where we will arrive 
about the 2d or 3d of November. Hereafter my letters 
will go by the way of India, the Suez Canal, and Liver- 
pool. Heretofore they have been sent by way of San 
Francisco. So far, we have followed our detailed jjro- 
gramme closely, and hope equal good fortune, health, and 
freedom from delays will follow us to the end, which will 
bring us back to home and the greeting of friends about 
the first of June. 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 115 



XL 



Farewell to the Land of the Mikado — Visit to Nagasaki and 
Sail for China — Interesting Historical Sketch of Japan — 
Its Religion, Resources, and Manufactures. 

In the Yellow Sea, between Japan and China, } 

November i, 1881. J 

My last left us in the Japanese city of Hiogo, expect- 
ing to sail the following day for Nagasaki and thence to 
China. While in the port of Hiogo we were the recipi- 
ents of kind courtesies from Lieutenant Tottenham, of 
Her Majesty's ship, Carracas. The invitation to visit 
the vessel was accepted in the same spirit of kindness in 
which it was tendered, and at 3 P. M. the officer sent a 
boat for us, and we were welcomed on board by the lieu- 
tenant and other officers in the courtly manner which dis- 
tinguishes British naval officials. After a lunch, washed 
down with fragrant tea and another decoction bearing a 
suspicious aroma that carried us back to the elysian fields 
of Kentucky, we were shown over the vessel, and many 
things which our limited naval education had not enabled 
us to thoroughly comprehend were courteously explained. 
The vessel is a model of neatness in every part, and the 
discipline so thorough that every seaman has the appear- 
ance and action of an educated gentleman. We parted 
with the Englishmen after a hearty hand-shake and a 
promise to meet again in China, and were set on shore 
by the ship's boat. In the harbor at the time were 
the American steam corvettes Alert and Ashuelot. Of 
course, private citizens, traveling as we do, as unostenta- 



116 WHAT I SAW, 

tious sight-seers, have no claims upon the consideration 
of the officers of the navy whom they may chance to meet 
in foreign ports, but we could not but contrast the court- 
esy of the Englishmen with the haughty reserve of the 
Americans, who failed to recognize the presence of their 
countrymen even by the commonest courtesies. 

Our vessel was delayed for a day at Hiogo, and we 
improved the opportunity for another excursion into the 
country, a distance of some thirty miles. We left the city 
at seven in the morning, with double teams of coolies, 
driven tandem, for the town of Arama. In not many re- 
spects did this excursion differ from others we had made 
previously. The mountain passes were perhaps a little 
more precipitous, but even in a strange country there is a 
sameness which is only saved from monotony by the nov- 
elty of every thing one sees throughout the land. Nature 
the world over is an architect of unsurpassed skill, and 
here in Japan she has seemingly provided to some extent 
for the convenience of humanity where the limited capac- 
ity of the natives is unable to overcome the obstacles. 
These passes through, or rather over, the mountains are 
narrow gorges, scarcely six feet wide, and at times but a 
footpath winding along the sides of immense peaks tower- 
ing on one hand hundreds of feet above, and on the other 
sinking to a frightful depth below. In one through which 
we passed on this occasion the sun is not seen except be- 
tween eleven and two o'clock. Such scenery, so far as 
our observation extends, is surpassed only by that in Cali- 
fornia. It may be that more grand, awe-inspiring pictures 
of the gigantic handiwork of nature may present them- 
selves in other countries which we shall visit, but I speak 
only of that which we have seen, deferring an opinion 
upon that which is before us until it is reached. The vil- 
lage of Arama is distant from Hiogo fifteen miles, but 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 117 

only four if it were possible to bore a hole through the 
mountain. The town is noted for the manufacture of 
baskets, which are of every conceivable kind and shape, 
made of bamboo. As I have previously remarked, this 
material is used in Japan for every thing except food. 

While at Arama we visited the bath house, where the 
natives, of both sexes, old and young, mingled, clothed 
only in the garments of nature. It was a severe shock to 
Eastern feelings in the way of modesty ; but, after all, I 
suppose decency in appearance is but the result of educa- 
tion. What we in the States are taught to view as fla- 
grant violations of propriety our more primitive antipodes 
look upon with complacency. " Evil be to him who evil 
thinks" is a philosophical aphorism as applicable in the 
present day as it was when enunciated by the good Queen 
Bess when Lord Raleigh restored her lost garter. 

They have at Arama a peculiar mineral spring, which 
spouts a reasonably good article of lemonade, and, with 
the addition of a modicum of sugar, becomes quite palata- 
ble. The " fly," which appeals so strongly to the educated 
appetite of intelligent Americans, it is necessary to bring 
from the coast. This ready-made lemonade is a much 
better article than the strawberry colored beverage pro- 
vided by the attaches of circuses in America. 

After partaking to our satisfaction of the extract of 
something prepared in the very mysterious laboratory of 
nature which strangely resembles the expressed juice of the 
lemon, we repaired to the hotel of the village for lunch. 
The proprietor of the hotel at Hiogo had prepared us a 
very palatable repast, and this our ever ready and accom- 
modating attendants spread upon the veranda of the hotel. 
As we sat there, sipping our tea, a veritable " nectar of the 
gods," our eyes wandered over a scene of beauty which 
does not often greet human eyes. Mountain tops, piled 



118 WHAT I SAW, 

seemingly upon each other, stretched away into the dim 
distance, interspersed with vast canyons and cascades of 
surpassing grandeur. The eyes never weary of studying 
this grand, inspiring view. For the time I wished for the 
pen of a Bayard Taylor or the brush of a Bierstadt, that 
I might place before my readers the picture as it stretched 
out before us. After lunch we climbed up further, a dis- 
tance of thirteen hundred feet, through a pass that did 
not exceed six feet in width, with walls of solid granite 
towering above to a very indefinite height. At the end 
of the pass is a beautiful cascade, well worth the journey 
to witness, though at the same time but a counterpart of 
others we had seen and endeavored to describe. The water 
comes from above — where, the Lord only knows, as the 
mountains beyond are impossible of ascent. At this point 
we remained some three hours, and then began the descent, 
our coolies thundering along, down the narrow passes, 
turning the sharp corners with a whisk that was trying to 
untutored nerves. We each drew a long breath of relief 
as we pulled up before the hotel at Hiogo, glad that the 
dangers were over, yet sorry that the scenes we had 
viewed with so much pleasure had passed from our sight 
for ever. 

On the 29th we sailed from Hiogo on a Japanese 
steamer for Nagasaki, the last point at which we will tarry 
in Japan. The scenery, as we plowed leisurely through 
the inland sea, was but a repetition of that which greeted 
us on the voyage from Yokohama to Hiogo, more beauti- 
ful, perhaps, in its succession of verdure-clad islands — a 
very elysium upon earth. The islands in many cases 
seem like vast plants resting upon the surface of the water, 
and so numerous are they that the steamer winds in and 
out through what seems a labyrinth of passages. The 
next morning we anchored in the bay of Siminosaka. 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 119 

This is not a treaty port, so we were not allowed to go on 
shore. I understand it is a place of about fifty thousand 
inhabitants, but as we were anchored fully a mile from 
land, we were consequently wholly unable to examine the 
city. We remained but about two hours, and steamed 
away for Nagasaki, where we arrived the same day. The 
islands of this inner sea through which we passed are said 
to be three thousand in number, but I am inclined to think 
that islands in groups like these are never accurately 
counted. Every body speaks of the "thousand islands" 
of the St. Lawrence, though they are known to number 
eighteen hundred. The harbor of Nagasaki is a beautiful 
sheet of water, almost surrounded by land, and sufficiently 
large to float the combined navies of the world. After 
breakfast we went ashore in a sampan, and, adopting the 
mode of conveyance which we had found so convenient 
elsewhere, went fourteen miles into the country, enjoying 
our last ride in Japan and our last acquaintance with the 
faithful coolies. The country around the city did not dif- 
fer from other parts of the empire which we had visited. 
In the city there are the same narrow streets, the same 
bustling activity, and the same ceaseless curiosity concern- 
ing the sayings, doings, and appearance of foreigners. We 
wandered through many bazars, feasting our eyes upon 
the beautiful, curious, and useful articles that tempt the 
stranger and deplete his pockets. The missionaries have 
three good churches here. To one of the missionaries we 
had -a letter of introduction, but, by reason of the lack of 
time, were compelled to forego the pleasure of presenting 
it. I have been given to understand that their work is 
progressing encouragingly. The little chapels, with their 
neat spires, are as a drop of water in the desert to one 
who has been wandering among the temples and gods of 
the idolaters for weeks. At night, on shipboard, we heard 



120 WHAT I SA W, 

the chapel bell, calling by its sonorous peals the Christians 
to worship. It made us homesick. Never again will we 
become impatient when compelled to listen to the loud- 
mouthed tinklers of the churches at home. One thought 
of the lone little chapel at Nagasaki will bring peace to 
our nerves and make us devoutly thankful that our home 
is in a land where Christianity is enjoyed rather than 
tolerated. 

Our ship stopped but one day at Nagasaki, and we bid 
a regretful farewell to Japan, where we had spent many 
pleasant days, and feasted our minds upon much that was 
curious and novel. If the blessings of lone travelers will 
add to the happiness of her natives, they are freely ten- 
dered. "We found the Japanese a peaceful, good-natured, 
accommodating, and faithful people, anxious to learn the 
ways of those more advanced in the scale of civilization, 
and eager to adopt all customs that will add to their hap- 
piness and material progress. 

Previous to leaving the harbor of Nagasaki we accepted 
an invitation to visit a Russian man-of-war. "We were 
highly entertained, and found much to interest us in the 
management of the crew. Hurrying back to our vessel, 
we sailed at 10 A. M., and as I write are enjoying as 
placid and comfortable a voyage as any one could desire. 
"We expect to reach Shanghai but one day out of our 
programme time. As we steamed from the harbor we 
passed the little island of Dezima, scarcely an acre in ex- 
tent, where for more than two centuries existed the only 
foreign foothold on Japanese soil. It was during that 
time a Dutch trading post. In 1639, when the Portuguese 
were expelled from the empire, a terrible massacre is said 
to have occurred at this place, hundreds of the hated for- 
eigners being compelled to leap from a precipice eighty 
feet high. 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 121 

It may be that my readers have become weary of my 
long continued story of Japan and the Japanese, and that 
I owe them an apology for the time and space which in 
these letters have been devoted to the subject. My only 
apology is that in Japan are found more prolific subjects 
to engage the attention of the traveler than perhaps in 
any other country on earth. For centuries the Japanese 
Empire was a sealed book to civilization. While commercial 
intercourse developed the history, resources, customs, etc., 
of other nations, Japan, wrapped in voluntary and com- 
plete seclusion, remained a mystery which the best efforts 
of the most progressive nations failed to solve. The first 
mention we find of Japan in history is when Marco Polo, 
the noted Venetian traveler, returned from a residence of 
twenty years in China, in the year 1295. The wonderful 
stories he related of Oriental countries were so surprising 
that Europeans viewed them with incredulity, and the ad- 
venturous Venetian was quoted in much the same spirit 
as was, in later years, the renowned Baron Munchausen. 
In short, it was freely asserted by contemporary scientists 
that M. Polo drew largely upon his imagination for 
his most solemnly asserted facts. The veracity of the 
Venetian traveler is remarkably sustained by more recent 
discoveries, and centuries after proved, in more instances 
than one, the correctness of his claims. Marco Polo, in 
the record of his Eastern travels, is careful to say that he 
never visited Japan, and that all the information he ob- 
tained of its existence was secured from the Chinese. It 
was nearly three hundred years afterward before a Euro- 
pean ever set foot in Japan, and then the discovery, like 
many others of greater and less importance, was the result 
of accident. Every school-boy has, to some extent, studied 
the history of the little kingdom of Portugal, now rank- 
ing as a third-rate nation, and from its unimportant geo- 



122 WHAT 1 SAW, 

graphical position and inability to cope with other more 
progressive nations, scarcely conceded a voice in the man- 
agement of the world's affairs. Yet to this nation is civ- 
ilization indebted for more important discoveries than to 
any other. Three and a half centuries ago Portugal was in 
the zenith of her glory. Portuguese ships dotted every 
known ocean, and her hardy and venturesome sailors were 
yearly adding valuable chapters and volumes to the history 
of the world. Among the most noted of the Portuguese 
discoverers was Ferdinand Mendez Pinto. Like Marco 
Polo, when he told of strange things that had befallen 
him in his wanderings, the men of his generation refused 
to believe him, but, like his Venetian predecessor, he re- 
lated many things that afterward proved to be in strict 
accord with fact. Pinto was a good representative of the 
nation as it existed in the sixteenth century. As I have 
remarked, Portugal was at that time the leading maritime 
power. In less than two centuries she had traversed the 
Atlantic, discovered the Cape of Good Hope, crossed the 
Indian Ocean, and established a foothold in China. It 
was only by reason of the jealousy of the king, not un- 
mixed with perfidy, that deprived her of the honor, so 
arrogantly borne by Spain, of discovering America. In 
the year 1545, the vessel of Pinto, driven eastward through 
unknown seas by stress of weather, entered the harbor of 
Bungo, on the island of Kiu-siu, Japan. His reception, 
though kind, was not cordial, but history tells us that 
during a somewhat prolonged stay he created so favorable 
an impression upon the Japanese that an agreement was 
made by which a Portuguese ship was to be sent annually 
to the island for the purposes of trade. The basis of 
Portuguese operations was at that time at Goa, in the 
East Indies, where they had built up a powerful and 
wealthy colony. In those days, when the Catholic was 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 123 

the only Christian religion, the zealous religious propa- 
gandists followed closely upon the heels of geographical 
explorers, and but a few years elapsed before the Jesuits, 
under the lead of Francis Xavier, pushed their teachings 
into Japan, and thousands of converts were made. At that 
time the utmost liberty of conscience was allowed, and no 
less than thirty-five distinct religions existed and nourished 
with more or less luxuriance. So long as the missions re- 
mained wholly under the control of the Jesuits their progress 
was rapid, and gave encouragement of glorious results. In 
a few years, however, the Dominicans, Carthusians, Fran- 
ciscans, and other factions of the Church obtained a foot- 
hold, and from that time religious peace was at an end. 
The converts were greeted with the spectacle of bitter 
quarrels among their instructors, and they naturally lost 
confidence in a religion whose professors, while teaching 
the theory of peace and good will, consistently practiced 
the opposite. The climax was finally reached when infor- 
mation came to the emperor that the missionaries, in con- 
junction with their converts, were plotting the overthrow 
of his power. An edict was at once issued banishing from 
the empire the whole race of the Portuguese. The same 
proclamation forbade, under the penalty of death, any Jap- 
anese vessel or native of Japan to depart from the country. 
It directed that any Japanese returning home from a foreign 
country should be put to death ; that any person propagating 
Christian doctrines, or even bearing the title of Christian, 
should suffer ; that no native should purchase any thing 
from a foreigner; and a reward was offered for the discov- 
ery of every priest as well as of every native Christian. 
Thus ended the foreign trade with Japan and the tolera- 
tion of the Christian religion in the empire. This edict 
was followed by a cruel and relentless persecution of the 
native converts to Christianity, and history contains no 



124 WHAT I SAW, 

more touching chapter than the story of the tortures which 
heroic men, women, and children suffered because of their 
refusal to recant and abjure their religion. 

Soon after the discovery of America, the coast of 
Africa, and the islands in the Indian Ocean, the Pope, 
assuming the jfowers of a temporal as well as spiritual 
dictator, allayed the feeling of jealousy rising between the 
catholic nations of Spain and Portugal by dividing be- 
tween them all of the western and about half of the east- 
ern hemisphere. These nations, as a consequence, were 
disposed to monopolize the trade with newly discovered 
countries. The Dutch and English, who had no respect 
for the Pope's geography and as little faith in his religion, 
denied his title to the ownership of the whole earth, and 
profanely likened him to Satan when he took our Lord 
up into the mountain and offered, for a consideration, to 
transfer to him whole kingdoms, of which he did n't own 
a foot. The consequence was a long and bloody feud be- 
tween the " lying Papists " and the " accursed heretics." 
It was during this period of animosity, and in the latter 
part of the reign of Elizabeth, in England, that the Dutch 
made their way to Japan, where they met with any thing 
but a cordial reception from the Portuguese, who had not 
yet suffered expulsion and were established at Nagasaki. 
The Hollanders established a trading post at Firando. 
The rivalry between the two establishments was naturally 
very great, and each sought to injure the other as much 
as possible with the Japanese authorities. 

At length, in 1639, the Portuguese were finally ex- 
pelled, as I have previously stated, and the Dutch were 
ordered to remove their trading post from Firando to 
Dezima, a little island in the harbor of Nagasaki, which 
had formerly been occupied by the Portuguese. I have 
been thus particular in detailing these facts because on 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 125 

this little island, scarcely six hundred feet long and one- 
third as broad, for more than two hundred years, existed 
the only trading point of foreigners in Japan. The Dutch, 
as a condition of their retaining the great advantages of 
trade, submitted to the most degrading humiliations. 
During the two hundred years succeeding, but little is 
known of the Japanese people. Some information, incom- 
plete, often contradictory, and, as subsequently obtained 
knowledge shows, wholly unreliable, was given to the 
world through these Dutch traders. In the meantime, 
different nations, the Russian, French, English, and others, 
sought to establish commercial relations with the Japa- 
nese, but always without success. Finally, in 1852, the 
United States government dispatched a squadron, under 
command of Commodore Perry, to Japan, with instruc- 
tions to secure a treaty, if possible. The expedition, after 
months of tedious negotiations, was entirely successful. 
A treaty was signed which opened certain ports to Ameri- 
can vessels, and the mystery which had so long surrounded 
the empire of Japan began to fade away. This treaty 
was followed by similar concessions to other nations, until 
now the principal ports of the Mikado's dominions are 
free to the commerce of all nations. Japan, in the but 
little more than a quarter of a century that has elapsed, 
has advanced with rapid strides in her material progress. 
Railroads and telegraph have been introduced. Steamers, 
manned by Japanese seamen and commanded by Japanese 
officers, are an ordinary mode of conveyance, and the peo- 
ple, with surprising alacrity, are beginning to conform to 
the customs of civilization. 

In seeking the data upon which to base this brief 
sketch of Japanese history, I have found much that is 
contradictory and unreliable, and the same difficulty is 



126 WHAT I SAW, 

encountered in endeavoring to trace the origin of the 
people, their religion, system of government, etc. 

There have been several Dutch writers upon Japan, 
prominent among whom were Ksempfer and Siebold, each 
of whom claim to have enjoyed certain valuable privileges 
which enabled them to study the characteristics of the 
people. Information obtained since the opening of the 
country leads to the conclusion, not admitting of a doubt, 
that they either knew little of the subjects which they 
essayed to discuss, or purposely perverted the truth. One 
would be led to the conclusion from perusing their inter- 
esting stories that the Japanese were almost barbarous, and 
that governmental power was so displayed that the slight- 
est offense, the most venial transgression of an unwritten 
law, was punishable with death. Contact with the people 
has shown that the Japanese are no such monsters; that 
they are of a peaceable, kindly, forgiving disposition, and 
that the Mikado, so far from being a counterpart of the 
king of Ashantee in vindictive cruelty, is really progres- 
sively inclined, anxious to learn the ways of nations more 
advanced, and a studious searcher for the system of gov- 
ernment which will most add to the happiness and pros- 
perity of his people. While in Japan I learned that the 
Mikado is contemplating the introduction of a constitu- 
tional form of government, and adopting other measures 
of reform. 

The history of the religion of the Japanese is, as I 
have said, a subject in which research is fraught with 
great difficulty. The original religion of Japan is called 
" Sin-syu," a liberal translation of which would be sun- 
worshipers, although they did not worship the sun di- 
rectly, but through the mediation of a goddess, " Tensio- 
dai-zin," who is deemed the patron divinity of Japan. 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 127 

The religion has a number of what might be called sub- 
deities, or " Kami/' of whom the greater part are can- 
onized or deified men. To these the prayers to the god- 
dess are made, much as the Romish Church worships God 
through the intercession of saints. The Mikado, or em- 
peror, is supposed to be a lineal descendant of the god- 
dess named. They have no idols, in the strict sense of 
the word, the statues of " Kami " not being objects of 
worship. The " Sin-syu," or " Sintoo " creed is very crude, 
and it is not easy to say just what it was or is. Its lead- 
ing features are some vague notions of the immortality 
of the soul, of a future state of existence of rewards and 
punishment, a paradise and a hell. The " Kaminusi " are 
the regular clergy of the Sintoo religion, but European 
writers mention two institutions, or religious orders, per- 
haps, composed entirely of the blind. At present there is 
undoubtedly much of the idolatry of Buddhism introduced 
into the Sintoo faith, and the latter is rapidly dying out. 
Buddhism, although not the established religion, is the 
faith of much the larger portion of the people, and might 
in fact, be said to be the universal doctrine, so rare are 
the exceptions. It was introduced into Japan in the sixth 
century of our era, and has gradually superseded the Sin- 
too. Christianity is viewed with suspicion by all, and the 
progress of the work is not as encouraging as the Chris- 
tian people would wish to see it. It is no longer, how- 
ever, prohibited, and the emperor permits, if he does not 
encourage, new systems of religion as graciously as he 
does other innovations. 

The Japanese are an exceedingly industrious and in- 
genious people, and in the manufacture of certain articles 
are scarcely equaled by any nation. They work well in 
copper, iron, gold, and silver, and, indeed, in all the metals 
they possess. Of course, their modes of operation are 



128 WHAT I SAW, 

crude and primitive, but the results are astonishing. Their 
imitative faculties, which are a peculiarity of the people, 
have led them into the adoption of improvements as they 
come within the scope of their observation. The supply 
of iron in the country is not large, but before the opening 
of the empire to trade, they put to the most serviceable use 
that which could be obtained. Copper is very abundant, 
and from the earliest historical period they have under- 
stood correctly the mode of treating the ore and preparing 
the metal for market. During the more than two centuries 
of Japanese isolation, when the only point of trade was 
with the small Dutch post at Nagasaki, this metal was the 
principal article of export. The extent of the gold pro- 
duction is very limited, but, perhaps, as the facilities for 
obtaining the ore and treating it are increased, it will be 
largely enhanced. They understand also the combinations 
of metals which produce alloys of beauty and usefulness. 
Brass is as common with them almost as with us, and they 
have another alloy called " sowas," a. combination of gold 
and copper, of great beauty. Their sword blades are finely 
finished and thoroughly tempered, thus showing that they 
have long been acquainted with the process of manufac- 
turing steel. Clocks and watches are made by native 
workmen, but the knowledge is of a comparatively recent 
date, as it was obtained from the Europeans. This is 
equally true of their astronomical instruments, though they 
secured their knowledge of the use and manufacture of 
the telescope in their intercourse with Europeans hundreds 
of years ago, before the expulsion of the Portuguese. 
They are expert in carving metal, and cast metallic statues, 
used mostly as gods to embellish the temples. No people 
in the world excel them in wood work. The manufacture 
of glass is partially understood, though they seem to en- 
counter unusual difficulty in producing window glass. But 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 129 

little of it is used, and seemingly none outside of the 
cities. Oiled paper is made to do service as a material 
which will admit the light, while excluding the air. In 
the manufacture of paper Japan can almost be said to 
"excel the world." This latter expression is, of course, 
an exaggeration, but one to which a person is tempted 
after seeing and handling the finer specimens of Japanese 
production, as soft and pliable almost as silk. The mate- 
rial of which it is made is the bark of the mulberry tree, 
and the process is as crude as the most primitive imagina- 
tion could suggest. So abundant is the production, that 
paper is used for innumerable purposes, largely as a sub- 
stitute for cotton fabrics, in the manufacture of which 
they have little skill. Woolens are wholly imported, as 
no wool is grown in the empire, or, at least, so little that 
no effort is made to utilize it. In the preparation and 
weaving of silk the Japanese are probably unsurpassed 
and unsurpassable. It was not our pleasure to witness the 
operation of weaving, but the products of the looms are 
abundant, and of a character for compactness and elegance, 
both of design and finish, that I have never seen equaled. 
Leather is produced to some extent, but the article is not 
used as we apply it. The shoes and slippers are usually 
made of plaited straw. These last only a little while, but 
are cheap and readily replaced. In wet weather they 
wear under these shoes a wooden clog or sole, which is 
attached to the foot by means of straw ties. In the cities, 
however, the natives, as I have frequently remarked, are 
rapidly conforming to the European and American cus- 
toms, and it is not an uncommon sight in the streets of 
Hiogo or Yokohama to see a pair of Japanese feet encased 
in neat-fitting calf-skin boots. 

Japan is very mountainous, as I have already stated, 
but with the exception of that portion of the ground 

9 



130 WHAT I SAW, 

occupied by the roads, and by the woods left to supply 
timber and charcoal, nearly every square foot, to the very 
tops of the mountains, is cultivated. Generally, their soil 
is rather poor; but by means of the care and labor which 
they bestow upon it, in irrigation, and by the application 
of carefully selected manures, it is made surprisingly 
productive. Their chief grain is rice, of which it is 
claimed the Japanese produce the best in the world. Xext 
in importance is tea, but this plant is not, as is generally 
supposed, indigenous to Japan. It was introduced from 
China about the ninth century. Immense quantities of it 
are produced, for its use among the natives is universal, 
and an incredible amount is each year exported. The 
plantations are situated as far as they conveniently can be 
from all other crops, and from human habitations, lest the 
delicacy of the tea be impaired by smoke or other im- 
purity. They manure the soil with anchovies and an oil 
or juice expressed from mustard seed. This undoubtedly 
gives to the soil great strength. 

In no department have the Japanese shown greater 
improvement, resulting from the peculiar adaptability of 
which I have spoken, than in navigation. Previous to the 
expulsion of the Europeans, they made voyages in ves- 
sels of their own construction to China, Java, and other 
countries, but under the decree of 1639 the vessels were 
prohibited from going beyond Japanese waters. During 
the past quarter of a century, since the empire has been 
open to the trade of the world, they have acquired a sur- 
prisingly thorough knowledge of navigation, the applica- 
tion of steam, etc., and many vessels are manned wholly 
by Japanese and commanded by native officers. 

The internal trade, both by land and water, is large, 
resulting from the variety of products afforded by the di- 
versity of climate and by the requirements of the immense 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 131 

population. In many places town joins on to town and 
village to village for miles, so that the road looks like a 
continuous street. The country is indeed populous beyond 
expression, and one would scarcely think it possible that, 
being no greater than it is, it should nevertheless main- 
tain and support such a vast number of inhabitants. The 
highways are almost one continued line of villages and 
boroughs. You scarce come out of one before you enter 
another; and you may travel many miles, as it were, in 
one street, without knowing it to be composed of many 
villages. As for the facilities for carrying on this vast 
internal trade of which I have spoken, I may mention, as 
one peculiar branch of the system, the mails. The mail trains 
are not just such as carry swift communication between 
points in the States. Here the carriers are men, and they 
go wholly on foot, but they are very expeditious. Every 
carrier is accompanied by a partner, to take his place in 
case of an accident. The men run at their utmost speed, 
and as they approach the end of their stage find the relay 
waiting, to whom, as soon as they are near enough, they 
toss the package of letters, when the new runners set off 
before the first have stopped. Nothing must be interposed 
to delay them a moment on the road. The highest prince 
of the empire must make way for the postman. When 
necessary and practicable the Japanese make good bridges, 
frequently of stone, but oftener of wood. On the roads, 
in all parts of the empire which are visited, inns, tea 
shops, and other resting places occur at intervals, and the 
distances are regularly marked. 

I have just said that the Japanese possess some knowl- 
edge of the principles of civil engineering. They know 
something, and are daily learning more, of mathematics, 
mechanics, and trigonometry. They have constructed 
good maps of the country ; they have measured the height 



132 WHAT I SAW, 

of some of their mountains by the barometer, and they 
have made some very good canals. 

I would like to speak further of this wonderful people, 
their system of education, etc., but the great space I have 
already devoted to it admonishes me that there may per- 
haps be a limit to the patience of the reader, who mayhap 
has long since become wearied with my prolix details of 
Japan and the Japanese. Truly, they are a wonderful 
people. 

As I write (November 2d) the lowlands at the mouth of 
the Yang-tse-kiang appear like a black, low-lying cloud, 
our first view of China. To-morrow we will land, and 
for the next two weeks seek novelties in the " Celestial 
Kingdom." 



AND HO W 1 SA W IT. 133 



XII. 



China and the Chinese — Arrival at Shanghai— Tour op the 
City— A Badly Disgusted Tourist — He Expresses a Decided 
Opinion of the Celestials — The Filthiest Creatures on Earth. 

Shanghai, China, November 6, 1881. 

If ever there was a traveler completely disgusted, sick, 
and nauseated, mentally and physically, I am that indi- 
vidual. We arrived at this port on the morning of the 
3d, and have devoted our time wholly to a pretty thorough 
exploration of that section of China which lies Avithin our 
reach at this point. The approach to China is by no 
means as picturesque as the coast of Japan. We crossed 
the great estuary of the Yang-tse-Kiang and arrived at 
Woosung, the outer port of Shanghai, some fourteen miles 
below the latter city. The shore is low, flat, and marshy, 
and continues throughout the distance to the city. In 
passing up the river to Shanghai the eye is bewildered by 
the panoramic view of ships of all nations which throng 
the stream. 

Our first impression of Shanghai, obtained from the 
European concession, was very favorable. This part of 
the city diners but little from European or American 
towns. Along the quay are located immense warehouses, 
of modern style, and the residences, many of them, truly 
elegant. We are located at the Astor House, kept by an 
American, where we obtain excellent accommodations, 
comparing favorably with those in New York, for five 
dollars per day for two of us. The Astor I can heartily 



134 WHAT I SAW, 

commend to tourists, particularly Americans. After par- 
taking of dinner a part of the afternoon was devoted to a 
stroll through the city. We found it quite decently clean, 
with stores, bazars, shops, etc., much as we have them at 
home. This, it must be remembered, is the foreign con- 
cession. The contrast when one ventures into the native 
city is startlingly great. In company with Captain Swain, 
a brother Yankee, we, on the day following our arrival, 
started to explore the Chinese city. And let me here re- 
mark that nothing except the duty we owe ourselves as 
sight-seers induced us to continue our walk beyond the 
first few steps inside the Avail. The streets are from three 
to six feet wide, and here is packed a mass of seething, 
stinking humanity such as I earnestly hope can not be 
found elsewhere on earth. The city is surrounded by a 
wall, thirty or thirty-five feet high and twelve or fifteen 
feet thick, composed of large blue bricks, which resemble 
somewhat the extra-hard burned brick at home. At reg- 
ular distances the top of this wall is broken into embra- 
sures, giving it the appearance of a fortification, though 
there were no indications of armament. "We were at a 
loss to divine the real purpose of this wall, as the appear- 
ance and above all the indelicate aroma which exudes from 
those within would be sufficient to deter even the most 
venturesome enemy from entering the town. Our guide 
asked two dollars for his services, but we readily closed a 
bargain with him for one-tenth that amount, and started 
off under his guidance. " Now, show us your gods !" 
said Captain Swain, but the Mongolian convoy was desir- 
ous of further information that would enable him to act 
intelligently. He wanted to know, as we gathered from 
his " pigeon English," what was our moral standing. If 
we were good people, he would show us the good gods, 
but if of an inferior class, the gods, with a view of which 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 



135 



we were to be honored, must correspond. Finally the 
god question having been satisfactorily adjusted, we sallied 
forth on our journey. He took us through innumerable 
temples, whose great antiquity is the only 
thing to commend them. A more miserably 
dilapidated collection of tumble-down struc- 
tures can not be found 
anywhere outside of 
China. Compared with 
the temples of Japan 
they are as a neglected 
pig-stye to a palace. 
"We supplied ourselves jf 
with a god, partly as a 
curiosity, and partially 
with the hope that its 
guaranteed virtues 
would serve as a protec- 
tion to us in the Chinese 
cities Avhere preserva- 
tion from many disa- 
greeable experiences is 
imperatively demanded. 
Our god is about six 
inches high, as hideously homely a formation perhaps as 
the artistic taste of the Chinese manufacturer was able to 
compass. We have not yet learned whether it is a good 
or a bad god, but it is a good enough god for us, and we 
prize it very highly. 

We wound about through the labyrinthian maze of 
streets, which are so crooked that I have much doubt 
whether they have an end. I wish I was possessed for 
the time being of a facile descriptive pen, that I might do 
the extreme filthiness of these Chinese streets at least 




Chinese Wife. 



136 WHAT I SAW, 

comparative justice. It seems to me that the Chinese 
cities are naturally the breeding places of the plagues and 
pestilences that periodically sweep over the country. 
Among other places to which we were conducted by our 
guide was the Chinese prison. They have a system of in- 
flicting punishment which should prove effective in incul- 
cating a respect for the law, or if not respect, at least a 
wholesome dread. Persons convicted of larceny have a 
board two feet square fitted to their necks, so that the 
head extends above, and the prisoner can not raise his 
hands to feed himself. Another whom we saw was under- 
going punishment for murder. He is ornamented with a 
similar necklace, but in addition is confined in a wooden 
cage, where he is compelled to stand up, because if he at- 
tempts to sit down the board around his neck will choke 
him. There he must stand until death relieves him, for 
no one is allowed to feed him. We also visited a women's 
prison, where many were awaiting sentence. If con- 
demned to labor they will be promptly put to the severest 
and most menial work, and if sentenced to be beheaded 
the application of the penalty will be equally prompt and 
unceremonious, the operation of decapitation being per- 
formed right on the spot. In China " the law's delays " 
do not intervene to protect criminals. The sentence is 
executed first, and the appeals for delay probably listened 
to afterward. 

Our guide is not a fool, even if his appearance might 
indicate it. It seems to be the custom for dealers to pay 
these cicerones a commission on any sales which may be 
made to those unsophisticated foreigners whom they have 
in charge. The action of our guide in pertinaciously 
marching us through bazars, until we learned of this cus- 
tom, was more mysterious to us than it was profitable 
to him. 




CHINESE PAGODA. 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 1 37 

The Chinese beggars, in eomraon with every thing else 
we saw, were of the dirtiest and most disgusting. The 
minutely subdivided coin of this blasted country was doubt- 
less intended as an accommodation to those who are seem- 
ingly, by the pertinacity of the wretches, compelled to 
give something, yet do not care to impoverish themselves. 
We provided ourselves with " half cash," twenty of which 
equal our cent in value, and these we distributed with the 
lofty air of kings, our contributions during the day reach- 
ing the sum of nearly a quarter. Oh, I tell you it is 
glorious to be so generous when generosity is so cheap. 
These beggars were sadly dilapidated specimens of hu- 
manity, every affliction known in the catalogue of human 
ills being apparently represented with generous profusion. 
They were a mass of sores from head to foot — a hideous 
picture of perambulating putridity which I hope is not 
common in China. If we find it is, it will require per- 
haps more strength of determination than I have ever yet 
accumulated to carry me through. Good reader, do n't do 
me the injustice to conclude that we simply encountered 
one gang of these beggars, and hastily formed an opinion 
of the whole therefrom. No, indeed ! The city of Shang- 
hai swarms with them, the filthiness of each succeeding 
gathering exceeding that of its predecessor. The old 
army comparison, " thicker than sutlers in H — alifax " 
would scarcely do justice to an estimate of their numbers. 
Finally, we became wearied, and begged our guide to take 
us out. But he seemed anxious that we should view the 
" devil god." We consented, and were shown a wooden 
image, about as large as ten men, and more than propor- 
tionately ugly, with a great red tongue lolling out, and in 
front of it a poor idolatrous female pouring out her sor- 
rows and begging that the wrath of the evil spirit might 
be appeased. Now, this appealed directly to my generos- 



138 WHAT I SAW, 

ity, and I placated that devil by tne contribution of 
one-half " cash," or the one-half of one-tenth of one cent. 
It is not necessary for me to remind the reader that the 
exorcising of devils in America is not so cheap. 

Having seen much more than we cared to look at, and 
established our reputations for generosity on a grand scale, 
we peremptorily ordered our guide to return us to the 
gate, and right glad were we for the sniff of fresh air that 
can be obtained only outside the walls of Shanghai. 
When we arrived at our hotel, we acted upon the land- 
lord's suggestion, and thoroughly fumigated our bodies. 
Having cleansed our outer persons, we irrigated the inner 
foulness which had accumulated by a copious draft of 
"Old Otard." 

When we returned to the "Concession" we found the 
races in progress and all business suspended. There is 
found between the native city and the Concession a start- 
ling change of values, which proved disastrous to our 
vaunted generosity. They charged five dollars for admit- 
tance to the races — a princely sum, sufficient to enrich the 
whole native city of Shanghai, but not enough to cleanse 
it, by any means. 

On Saturday we made a general tour of the wharves 
and "go-downs" (warehouses) of the Concession, and 
found them nearly equal to those of Xew York or Liver- 
pool. The amount of commercial business transacted here 
is incredible. 

In the matter of conveyances, we have, first, the sedan 
chair, a cozy kind of a box, nicely cushioned, and borne, 
by means of poles extending backward and forward, upon 
the shoulders of coolies. These chairs are, in the native 
city, the exclusive conveniences of the mandarins and 
other big- wigs. Next is the one- wheeled barrow, as I 
call it, a box in which the passenger is seated, with one 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 139 

foot on either side of the wheel. Such a mode of convey- 
ance would not be thought very dignified in Bucyrus, but 
we did not bring our dignity with us to China. We have 
also the "jinrikisha," brought from Japan, but we miss 
the faithful little Jap attendants, who, when compared with 
the Chinese coolies, are princes of cleanliness and conse- 
quent godliness. Next is the Chinese low-wheeled car- 
riages, drawn by the little Chinese ponies. These animals 
weigh seven to nine hundred pounds, and move quite 
rapidly, and with some degree of comfort. These are, of 
course, confined to the Concession. A wheeled vehicle in 
the native city would probably cause an insurrection. 

There is no drainage in Shanghai, and at early bed- 
time the scavengers are set to work, and for hours fill the 
air with such a nauseating aroma as can not be found out- 
side of China. 

A short excursion into the country gave us a brief 
insight into the system of agriculture, of which, however, 
I will speak again, as our opportunities for observations be- 
come more extended. They use for farm work a species of 
buffalo, a mouse-colored animal of apparently amphibious 
habits. Their skin resembles in appearance that of the 
rhinoceros, but, notwithstanding its toughness, they suffer 
greatly from flies and other insects, which fact probably 
accounts for their fondness for burying themselves in the 
water. 

All historians agree that a lack of respect for the dead 
is a distinguishing feature of barbarians. In China, the 
deceased are shown less respect than dead dogs. One 
afternoon since our arrival in Shanghai, Ave drove to the 
depositories of the dead, outside the city a distance of 
some seven miles. The road is a good one, lined on either 
side by the fine bungalows, or residences, of the manda- 



140 WHAT I SAW, 

r'ms, or Chinese nobles. These live in princely style, yet 
all along the roadside we saw innumerable coffins, made 
of three-inch plank, and each containing a hideous, grin- 
ning corpse. I find that in this part of China the dead 
are not always buried, but are left thus exposed, the heavy 
planking of the coffins usually retaining all the smell, but 
in many cases they were overpoweringly offensive. A live 
Chinaman stinks bad enough, but the most vivid imagina- 
tion can not comprehend the aroma of a dead one. The 
number we saw thus exposed was almost beyond computa- 
tion, and in some instances only a piece of matting was 
carelessly thrown over the coffin. Every Chinaman who 
can afford it has his coffin prepared in advance of death. 
We saw but one funeral, in which the corpse was carried 
on the shoulders of attendants to be deposited in this Gol- 
gotha, with less respect than in the States we would handle 
a dead dog. 

A Chinaman who falls by the wayside and is about to 
die is not looked after, and receives not so much as a 
glance of interest from the passer-by. It is considered a 
calamity for a stranger to die on your premises. We saw 
one man dying by the roadside. He was a mass of fester- 
ing corruption, and lay in the ditch with not a single 
attendant. He, probably, was not able to purchase a 
coffin, and will be tumbled into a common pauper's grave, 
forming mounds similar to those we saw in the fields, and 
where the burial interferes but a few minutes with the 
cultivation of the soil where the deposit is made. These 
Chinese till the soil in the midst of the coffins, and doubt- 
less think the manure thus obtained cheap and of good 
quality. I have all the respect in the world for mission- 
aries, but the revenue of a prince would be small induce- 
ment for me to engage in the business of saving souls in 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 141 

China. In the Concession, of course, every thing is dif- 
ferent. Here they have churches, cemeteries, and other 
evidences of civilization. 

It is impossible for me to convey an idea of the 
crowded condition of the native city of Shanghai. The 
streets are so narrow that it seems they would not contain 
half the people should the entire population simultaneously 
conceive the idea of a walk. When a fire breaks out the 
loss of life from tramping down and burning must be very 
great. I can not imagine how the entire city is saved 
from destruction under such circumstances, the houses be- 
ing all constructed of the most combustible kinds of wood. 

On Sunday Mrs. Converse and myself took a stroll 
through the Concession, and found it, as I have said, quite 
respectable in appearance. It becoming necessary to repair 
one of my, companion's shoes, we stepped into a filthy lit- 
tle cobbler's den, and were much amused by the attention 
a lady's foot gear attracted among the workmen. They 
had evidently never before enjoyed such an opportunity 
for satisfying their curiosity. 

In drawing a comparison between the Chinese and 
Japanese every thing is in favor of the latter. There is 
something sinister in the countenance of every Chinaman 
that would deter me from placing myself in his unre- 
strained power for a moment. They are any thing but 
honest, and have a way of expressing their feeling by a 
look that conveys volumes of meaning. 

During one of our numerous strolls we embraced the 
opportunity to view the lepers. Here again words fail 
me. Let any of my imaginative readers picture to him- 
self the most sickening combination of horrors that his 
mind can conceive, and add to that a hundred fold, and it 
will fall far short of the scenes we viewed among the 
lepers of Shanghai. We saw one dying in a ditch by the 



142 WHAT I SAW, 

roadside, in the last stage of the disease. He was covered 
from head to foot with yellow, green, blue, and brown 
sores, all exuding the foulest corruption. Bah ! my stom- 
ach is not equal to the task of a further description, even 
if my pen did not fail. It was a relief to get back to 
our hotel and sit down to an elegant American meal of 
steak, vegetables, and every thing that could tempt an 
appetite. Ugh ! Every mouthful of the food bore with 
it a nauseating remembrance of the scenes through which 
we had just passed. 

We did not visit any of the missionaries here. They 
must indeed be a self-sacrificing people to throw away 
their time and lives endeavoring to save the souls of such 
brutes, and while I respect their cause as much as any 
one could, I have little confidence in their judgment. If 
they do not get a surfeit of China in five years (the time 
usually stipulated) I will be surprised. We secured more 
than a surfeit in as many days. I would demand a deed 
in fee simple to all the real estate of Crawford County as 
an inducement to stay one year within the walls of Shang- 
hai. I do n't think England could do the Chinese a greater 
favor than to blow them up with shot and shell. The 
victims of British cupidity had at least a decent way of 
of dying, which is more than can be said of their manner 
of living. I may yet have occasion to give a worse account 
of some other nation, but I hope not. If my stable boy 
did. not keep the cattle stalls cleaner than the Chinese do 
their temples, I would thrash him within an inch of his 
life. In one temple we saw cords of wood and vast col- 
lections of clothing for the use of the gods. What ulti- 
mately becomes of it, I do not know. These people have 
had under their eyes for forty years the examples of civ- 
ilization in the Concession, yet they do not profit by it in 
the least. 



A ND HO W I SA W IT. 143 

My readers may think the dark picture I have pre- 
sented is overdrawn. On the contrary, the half has not 
been told. No description has ever done the filthy Chinese 
full justice, and never can. To be appreciated in the full 
extent of their foulness they must be seen, and even then 
the observer, like us, will be more than content with a 
glance. 

There is probably no place on earth more cosmopolitan 
than the foreign city at Shanghai. It is interesting to look 
over the hotel register and note arrivals from America, 
Liberia, Borneo, Australia, India, Egypt, Germany, Eng- 
land, etc. A day or two since there were numbered among 
the guests a gentleman and lady from Eastern Siberia. 

To-morrow we sail on the Pacific and Oriental steamer 
Kashgar for Hong Kong, and right glad are we to get 
away from this human cesspool, though perhaps we will 
be but "jumping out of the frying-pan into the fire." We 
expect to arrive in Hong Kong in four days. 



144 WHAT I SAW. 



XIII. 

Shanghai to Hong Kong — Something of the Latter City — 
Chinese Filial Affection Illustrated — The Writer soon 
Satisfied with the Heathen — His Picture and those of 
Others Compared — A Brief Disquisition upon the Value of 
the Chinaman as a Citizen. 

Hong Kong, China, November 14, 1SS1. 

We left Shanghai with few regrets on the 9th, and 
arrived here on yesterday, the 13th, on board a Pacific and 
Oriental steamer, which, like most of the trading vessels 
in this part of the world, sails under the British flag. 
Our company on shipboard was such as would have been 
enjoyed by the most cosmopolitan. We had Americans, 
English, Australians, Malays, Chinese, Parsees, French, 
and the Lord only knows what others with whose nativity 
we were not acquainted. In the cargo was a carefully 
selected consignment of Chinese ponies, bound for Borneo — 
those peculiar little animals which might perhaps be best 
described as a cross between a Texan broncho and a mule, 
were such a combination not a physical impossibility. 
They are caught away up in the country, a distance of 
a thousand or two miles, and driven to the coast in cara- 
vans, where they are sold for whatever they will bring. 
The color is mostly white, and the breed is of that stubby 
character that makes up in viciousuess what they lack in size. 
I speak of them as a cross between a Texan broncho and a 
mule, because with the unadulterated cussedness of the lat- 
ter they unite the wickedness and the phenomenal endurance 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 145 

of the former. On shipboard they are securely fastened 
each in a separate cage, and seemingly occupy their time 
almost wholly in forming new schemes for deviltry, when 
once they get loose. I would rather, much rather, how- 
ever, trust one of them than I would a Chinaman. The 
pony you know is treacherous, and in the Chinaman you 
are apt to be deceived by the "child-like smile," and 
suffer in due proportion to the deception. It is more 
than likely that in my last I spoke of the Chinamen as a 
peculiar people. Well, each day adds to our knowledge 
of their peculiarities, and presents some features which 
have an irresistible tendency to increase our disgust with 
the whole race. We are told in America by the friends 
of Chinese immigration that it is only the worst class who 
emigrate; that those who remain in their native land are 
of a superior class, etc. It is hardly necessary for me to 
add to what I have said my utter disbelief of such stories. 
The Chinaman, as we have seen him "on his native heath," 
in the full enjoyment of his natural penchant for squalor 
and filth, is sunk many degrees below any thing I ever 
saw in America. Even the lowest dive amid the slimy 
dungeons of Chinatown, San Francisco, is a palace of 
purity and its inmates paragons of decency compared with 
the reeking cesspools wherein the native lolls and stinks 
in the principal streets of Shanghai. It may be that in, 
the country and villages the condition of the peoj)le is 
better, but I am much disposed to doubt it. A Chinaman 
does not take kindly to cleanliness. He despises a bath- 
tub worse than he does a " foreign devil," and would have 
no use for one except as a means to add to the prevailing 
filth of his surroundings. The language, as perhaps some 
of my readers know, is a nerve-rasping jargon of sounds 
that cause wonder why the articulator does not break his 
neck in the attempt to speak it. I have never yet seen,. 

10 



146 WHAT I SAW, 

if my recollection serves me right, a Chinaman who had 
completely mastered the English language. For instance, 
you meet one here who claims to talk English, and ask 
him what time it is. If it is a quarter past six o'clock, 
you will receive for a reply : " Six clock, half past fifteen 
minute no come," whereby he means to convey the im- 
pression that it would be half-past six o'clock were it not for 
the fifteen minutes that have not yet expired. Very intel- 
ligible, isn't it? I think such a jumble of words is as dis- 
gusting as every thing else we have seen in China. That is 
what they they call " pigeon English," though it sounds 
to me like jackdaw English. But this " pigeon English " 
has its valuable use. To the visitor, on his arrival here, 
it seems like an unnecessary and puerile affectation. But 
this is a mistake. Native agents, servants, etc., must be 
employed. , They do not understand any foreign languages, 
and foreign residents can not learn Chinese. A dialect 
is needed for mutual communication. " Pigeon," to 
the Chinese ear, means, not the dove, but "business." 
"Pigeon English" means, therefore, "business English," 
or a language invented and used to facilitate communica- 
tion between business men. A few generic names, without 
any variation of mood or tense, constitute the vocabulary, 
which, of course, contains many distinctively and purely 
Chinese words. "Will this horse kick?" In pigeon 
English : " Horse makee kick ? " " Ask consul to come 
here." In pigeon English it is : " Catchee consul, bring 
come this side." "Bring the breakfast quickly." The 
reply is more nearly pure Chinese, thus : " Catchee chow- 
chow, chop-chop !" I understand, and I believe I ob- 
tained my information from so reliable a source as Tank 
Kee, who lectured through the States during the past two 
years, that pigeon English is being taught in the schools 
of the Chinese sea-ports, and jDromises to become an estab- 



AND ROW I SAW IT. 147 

lished dialect. A language it can never be until its basis 
is somewhat systematized. What a deceiving wretch that 
Tank Kee is, any way ! I would like to hold him by the 
swell of the pants and the nape of the neck over some of 
the smells and sights we did n't enjoy in Shanghai, and 
see if I could n't induce him to revise his lecture upon the 
" Flowery Kingdom " before he again essays to impose it 
upon an intelligent American audience. 

On the night of the 11th, during our voyage from 
Shanghai to Hong Kong, we had a fine view of the phos- 
phorescent light at sea. The ocean was lit up as if by 
small sheets of flame, and presented a scene of rare 
beauty. Scientists endeavor to account for this phenom- 
enon in various ways, although, I believe, the usually 
accepted theory is that of reflections from phosphorescent 
fish, not dissimilar from the peculiar light shed by the 
familiar fire-fly, or "lightning-bug," as it was known in 
our boyhood days. For my own part, I am free to con- 
fess that I do not know any thing about it, and am not 
consumed with a thirst for information upon a point of so 
little vital importance. 

The Chinese sea, which we have once crossed and again 
passed through almost its entire length, has been very kind 
to us. We have escaped the periodical typhoons which, 
every few weeks at this season, make things very lively 
for the Chinese junks, and sometimes prove disastrous to 
vessels of more pretensions. One a few days ago de- 
stroyed hundreds of junks, but I can not see that their 
numbers have been sensibly diminished. In the ports 
they throng like blue flies around carrion, and during the 
voyage here there never was a time when one or more 
were not in sight. These junks, by the way, are a curious 
craft. Large, ill-shaped, and lubberly, they are often an 
obstruction to navigation, and how they manage to keep 



148 WHAT I SAW, 

afloat even during an ordinary storm is a marine problem 
which I am unable to solve. They all have two eyes in 
the bow, placed there, as is solemnly asserted, to enable 
the vessel to see its way, and no Chinese boatman would 
think of venturing out unless his junk was provided with 
the great, staring, hideous representations of eyes. They 
consider it a precursor of good luck to pass close to the 
bows of a steamer, at great risk to their safety. Often 
our vessel had to blow its whistle to warn them away, and 
even then they are occasionally run down. I am inclined 
to the opinion that drowning is about the best luck that 
can befall a Chinaman any way. One has some little 
assurance that he will appear before the pearly gates com- 
paratively clean, at least. 

Chinese history fails to give any account of a currency 
except the copper and iron "cash," the former being worth 
one-tenth of the American cent, and the latter one-twen- 
tieth. They have no paper currency, and no silver or 
gold of their own. I can now readily see where all our 
trade and Mexican dollars go to. They find a resting 
place out in the back country of China, and seldom or 
never again reach the marts, of civilization. The trade in 
silks, teas, and rice is done by means of silver bricks, 
called "taels," cast to weigh one dollar thirty-three and 
one-third cents, and double, quadruple, and so on. Ex- 
change is about twelve per cent in the traveler's favor. 

The view upon approaching Hong Kong is very different 
from that presented on nearing Shanghai. Instead of the 
low, straggling shores, of a marshy appearance, suggestive 
of chills and fever, we are greeted by three mountains, of 
several hundred feet altitude, rising abruptly from the sea, 
and occupied almost to their summits by the elegant and 
tasteful residences of the English and American merchants 
and shippers. Hong Kong is an island, long since con- 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 149 

quered by Great Britain, and is not, except geographically, 
a part of China at all. There is not so much shipping 
here as at Shanghai, but the business of different kinds 
seems to be more substantial. The shore line is semi- 
circular in form, and as we view it from the deck of the 
vessel, at a distance of perhaps a mile, the city brilliantly 
illuminated, with the terraces, which wind around the 
mountain face, forming a pleasant background to the pic- 
ture, and the beautiful bay in front, is most entrancing. 
While enjoying it one can almost forget that he is in 
China. The city is really handsome, tastefully laid out, 
scrupulously clean, and reminds the visitor of some thriv- 
ing English sea-port. The Chinese quarters are an elysium 
compared with Shanghai, but I more than suspect that the 
propinquity of English policemen has much more to do 
with it than the natural or acquired inclinations of the 
Chinaman. 

Some two miles out is the English burial place, cer- 
tainly the handsomest city of the dead I ever beheld, and 
when compared with the Chinese Gehenna at Shanghai 
doubly beautiful. It is situated in a basin, surrounded by 
high hills, and elegantly shaded by the tasteful fern palms, 
growing a leaf from eight to ten feet in length. Many 
other tropical trees lend beauty to the place, and do much 
to rob death of its horrors when the mortal part can be 
laid in such a place. 

Hong Kong is, of course, a strong military post. It 
would not be English if it was n't, and they keep a large 
reserve force of red-coats here. I suppose they are re- 
quired to kill a few Chinamen occasionally, that those who 
are so unfortunate as to remain alive may learn something 
of what is due to civilization. The only trouble, to my 
view, is that they do not kill one-tenth enough. 

At this point the number of Chinese junks is simply 



150 WHAT I SAW, 

incalculable. Thousands of Chinese live on these boats — 
are born, reared, and die on them — and I am told that 
some of them contain as many as three generations of the 
family. The coolies belonging to these water craft do all 
the work in loading and unloading vessels, and their labor 
is cheaper than to employ steam. Steam costs something, 
and the coolies so little that it is scarcely worth consider- 
ing. It would be supposed that in so dense an uncivilized 
population little care would be taken of the children. 
Well, this depends upon circumstances. Boys are usually 
pretty well cared for, because their labor promises to be 
valuable, but girls are always neglected and often drowned 
at birth. To-day I pleased a Chinese parent immensely 
by patting a boy upon the head. Had it been a girl I 
would have been scorned. 

The bay, as I have said, is constantly crowded with 
"sampans" and other Chinese craft for hire. We took 
one to-day for the purpose of reaching the shore, and 
Learned something more, illustrative of the Chinese con- 
tempt, for girl babies. The boat in which we embarked 
was controlled by an entire family, the mother, as is 
usually the case, steering and the children helping their 
father to row. I asked the woman by pointing to one of 
the urchins about three years old, if it was a boy. "Yes," 
she answered, and the same reply was given regarding the 
second, but when I inquired the sex of the third, she 
turned away with a shame-faced look, and I knew it was 
a girl. I noticed also that each of the boys had a small log 
of wood fast to him, so if he fell overboard he would 
float. The girl had no floater attachment, and I have not 
the least doubt those parents would be glad if she did get 
drowned. 

On Sunday it rained all day, and I went ashore alone 
in the afternoon to get a tooth pulled, as it had com- 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 151 

menced to remind me by sundry nervous twinges that 
some such services were needed. I found a foreign dentist, 
and he began operations, but suddenly ceased — at my per- 
emptory request. I suppose the advice is unnecessary, but 
let me say to my readers, do n't you ever come to China 
for your dentistry. Why, I would rather have every tooth 
in my head ache for a continuous week than to have that 
pesky tooth-carpenter operate on one of them for five 
minutes, and he is n't a Chinaman either. 

Our programme as originally laid out included a much 
longer stay in China than we have made or intend to 
make, for to-morrow we sail for Ceylon and India, from 
which former place my next letter will be dated. Our 
reasons for this are varied. As primarily arranged our 
programme did not allow for unavoidable delays. These 
we have so far escaped, but we think it prudent to pro- 
vide for them by being a little ahead of time. In addi- 
tion to this, inland travel in China is not as safe from the 
annoyances of pirates as could be desired, particularly on 
the rivers, where a traveler's life is usually worth about 
the amount of money he has in his pockets — at least the 
heathen Chinese do not hesitate when an opportunity 
offers to cause him to lose both in the exchange. We 
were given to understand that these difficulties are very 
frequently encountered on the river between here and 
Canton, which city, said to be the largest and filthiest in 
China, is about ninety miles up the river from Hong 
Kong. We would like much to visit Canton, and every 
other city in the " Stinking Empire," but encounters with 
beastly Chinese robbers were not laid down in our pro- 
gramme, and we will permit no interpolation, particularly 
of that kind. I am of the opinion, and others bear me 
out in it, that there is much sameness among the cities of 
China. They all look alike, they all smell alike, the peo- 



152 WHAT I SAW, 

pie look and act similarly, and when you have gazed upon 
one you have seen all. 

Now, good reader, I am just as fully aware as you can 
be that the tone of what I have written about China has 
not the same sound as the effusions of others. There is 
an excellent reason. We and some others look upon it 
from very different stand-points. One of the most inter- 
esting works which I have read upon the country is that 
of Hon. Wm. H. Seward. Mr. Seward, though traveling 
in an unofficial capacity, was everywhere recognized as the 
representative of the United States Government. He was 
universally feted and feasted by the officials, and was never 
allowed to come in contact with the common people. He 
never witnessed them in the full depths of their misery, 
squalor, and degradation as we and others have done. 
His communications were wholly with mandarins and 
other officials of the government, who are perhaps well 
enough in themselves, and certainly would have been slow 
to show Mr. Seward life in China as it really exists among 
the low and middle classes. The same is true of the story 
of Grant's tour. We are traveling as private citizens, un- 
hampered by official courtesies, and see the Chinese largely 
as they see themselves. There is a vast difference between 
a mandarin's palace and a coolie's hut or cellar. We have 
seen both, and can draw a much more lifelike picture, 
particularly of the latter, than those who came here as the 
guests of the government and went away as thoroughly 
hoodwinked regarding realities as it was to the interest 
of the government that they should be. 

It is from this province of Canton that all the emigra- 
tion to America goes, and every day there are large arriv- 
als from up the river for that purpose. They are a sorry- 
looking set, which the experience of Americans has taught 
them add nothing to the wealth or prosperity of the coun- 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 153 

try, but, on the contrary, detract largely from it. There 
is a pretense made by the American consul of demanding 
evidence that emigrants go voluntarily. Perhaps it is 
more than a pretense. May be it is rigid. But what of 
it ? Wherein does that remedy the difficulty ? The fact 
still remains that these heathens are a positive detriment 
to any country which they may curse with their presence, 
a festering canker upon civilization and a sickening stench 
in the nostrils of every decent person under the sun. 
Nothing can be more certain than that immigrants who 
can not be brought up to the plane of civilization tend to 
drag down to their level the people among whom they 
locate. No Chinaman ever assimilates or seeks to assim- 
ilate with the American people. They take with them to 
the States their modes of life, thoughts and guides of 
action and their beastly and disgusting habits. These 
they retain religiously, and thus exert a demoralizing in- 
fluence upon the people with whom they are brought in 
contact. Every consideration demands that they should 
be excluded as rigidly as the plague. 

We expected on our arrival here to receive news from 
home, but disappointment awaited us, and we must needs 
be contented until we reach Singapore. We will then 
have been absent from home for four months. As we 
leave so soon, for the reasons given above, we will really 
see less of China than any other country visited, but the 
little is quite sufficient. In China we find a new applica- 
tion for the old couplet : 

" Man wants but little here below, 
Nor wants that little long." 

Here we are in the tropics, on the same latitude as the 
City of Mexico. It is either hot or raining all the time, 
and when it is n't either it is both. As we progress south- 



154 WHAT I SAW, 

ward it will of course continue to get warmer, until we 
reach Singapore, which is but about forty miles north of 
the equator. 

I was mistaken in saying on leaving Japan that the 
letter then written would be the last that would reach you 
by the way of California. This, however, is the last that 
will go that route, and for that reason I must soon get it 
in the mail. My next letter will be carried with us to 
Ceylon and there posted, to go ahead of us by way of the 
Suez canal and Liverpool. We will remain in Ceylon 
twelve days and about thirty in India, and expect to spend 
Christmas at Lucknow, with a missionary with whom we 
chance to be acquainted. Then we go to Egypt, up the 
Nile, and thence to the Holy Land, calculating upon 
reaching Jerusalem about the 5th of March. What vicis- 
situdes, experiences — pleasurable and otherwise — will be 
crowded into those four months? Perhaps sickness; may 
be death. We can only pray that Providence during the 
remainder of our journey may vouchsafe us a continuance 
of the blessing of his watchful protection that has so pre- 
served us in the past. 

As I draw my letter to a close, and glance through the 
"bull's eye," which, open, provides ventilation, and closed, 
furnishes light to our apartment on shipboard, I witness 
the novel scene of the coolies loading the vessel. The 
cargo consists largely of raw silk, tea, rice, and sugar, 
sufficient, I should think, to fill three hundred freight 
cars. Strange as it may seem, we take oil in bamboo 
baskets; rather an odd receptacle for oil, you no doubt 
think. These baskets are thoroughly lined with paper, 
and hold, I think, about two barrels of oil. 

The purser is calling out "Mail for Japan!" and I 
must close. 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 155 



XIV. 

Hong Kong to Singapore — Scenes and Incidents of the Voyage — 
The "Blarsted Britishers" and Their Ideas of America — 
Singapore — Its People and Other Inhabitants — A Paralyzing 
Snake Story. 

Point De Galle, Ceylon, November 27, 18B1. 

This letter will be necessarily wholly retrospective, as 
we have just arrived at this point, the principal port in 
the island of Ceylon, after a voyage of thirteen days from 
Hong Kong, and a brief visit to Singapore and Penang. 

After mailing my last letter we still had a few hours 
at our disposal before the vessel sailed, which were devoted 
to a partial ascent of the hill or mountain that towers 
above the city of Hong Kong. The mountain is twelve 
hundred feet in height and very steep, and our ambition 
to survey the city and its surroundings from the summit 
was doomed to disappointment, as an ascent of seven hun- 
dred and twenty feet was the limit of our breath and 
energy. I have traveled some in different parts of the 
world, and have learned some thiugs. Among others, that 
the ambition which leads one to ascend high mountains, 
where danger lurks in every footstep and every breath is 
painful, is a delusion and a snare. If my readers ex- 
pect me to detail the thrilling experiences at Mt. Blanc 
or the Matterhorn they will be disappointed. True, we 
have not reached Switzerland yet, but I desire to notify 
our friends that climbing mountains at the imminent risk 
of our necks is not our forte. Such foolhardiness is not 



156 WHAT I SAW, 

down on our programme. We can find more novelties on 
level ground than we will be able to describe or even re- 
member. 

All this, however, has nothing to do with the view of 
Hong Kong and vicinity from the mountain in the rear. 
The picture as presented was beautiful and, had time per- 
mitted, could have been made the subject of several hours' 
interesting study. At our feet lay the busy city, teeming 
with life and commercial activity. Beyond, the harbor, a 
vast network of steamers and sailing vessels — water craft of 
every nation, and of every size and shape, from the skurry- 
ing Chinese sampan to the slow-moving and majestic Pacific 
and Oriental steamer. Perhaps in no seaport in the world 
can be found a greater variety of shipping than in Hong 
Kong. Flags of all nations flutter in the wind, and 
weary the eye with the constantly varying display of 
bunting. Alongside the cross of St. George and the tri- 
color of France flies the white elephant of Siam, the 
double-headed eagle of Russia, the Turkish crescent, or 
the peculiarly Chinese banner of the "Flowery Kingdom." 
Occasionally also one may catch a glimpse of the glorious 
stars and stripes, but to our shame be it said, the Ameri- 
can flag is almost a curiosity in Oriental waters. At 
intervals these ports are visited by a representative of the 
American navy, but, with these exceptions, our flag is sel- 
dom seen. Here, as elsewhere throughout the world, the 
carrying trade is done largely by the English. 

We sailed from Hong Kong at five o'clock on the 14th 
for Singapore and Ceylon. After getting under way, we 
passed out between numerous islands, which reminded us 
of the inland sea of Japan. At a distance from jx>rt of 
fifteen miles these were left behind, and we entered the 
broad expanse of the China Sea. 

Our passenger list presented the usual variety, the 



AND HOW 1 SAW IT. 157 

cabin during the hours devoted to recreation resounding 
with such a conglomeration of sound as one would think 
had not been heard since the confusion which puzzled the 
people at the Tower of Babel. We had on board pas- 
sengers for Java, Sumatra, Ceylon, Egypt, Italy, and Eng- 
land, but none for America except our humble selves. 
Our crew consisted of one hundred officers and sailors. 
The vessel was as neat and trim a traveler of the ocean 
as one would care to find; the officers and attendants at 
all times courteous and obliging. The steamer, while not 
the largest by any 'means, being but. three hundred and 
sixty feet long, forty wide, and forty -eight deep, surprised 
us who witnessed a large part of the loading, with her ca- 
pacity. I calculated that, allowing ten tons as a car load, 
we carried from Hong Kong to Singapore a cargo that 
would fill two hundred and fifty cars, sufficient to consti- 
tute thirteen trains such as are transported on the rail- 
roads in America. We have of tea alone one hundred 
car loads, and a like number of silk, and the remainder 
of sundries. 

On leaving China, I estimated that we had traveled by 
sea not less than seven thousand five hundred miles, and 
during that time neither of us had missed more than two 
days from our duty at the table. The loss of meals for 
two days was during a slight attack of sea-sickness en 
route from San Francisco to Yokohama. We have much 
cause to be thankful for our remarkable preservation from 
the ills and dangers that constantly beset the traveler. 

During the voyage we were forcibly struck by the 
prevalence of excessive drinking, and that, too, among a 
class of people from whom we would naturally expect 
better things. We witnessed on the ship scenes of inebri- 
ety, indulged in by ladies of recognized social position 
and rank, that would have disgraced the lowest saloon in 



158 WHAT I SAW, 

America. I am sorry to mention these little incidents, 
but I am disposed to describe events as they really occur, 
and not as they should be. If questioned and asked to 
assign a reason for the prevailing indulgence in stimulants, 
these English people lay it to " the blarsted climate, you 
know !" Now that is a flimsy excuse, a silly subterfuge. 
My experience convinces me that drinking in China or 
India is like similar indulgence in England or America. 
It is simply a habit, a pernicious practice, just as repre- 
hensible in Hong Kong or Singapore as in London or 
New York. I must, however, qualify that remark to 
some extent. At Shanghai or elsewhere in the midst of 
the odoriferous Chinese, excessive drinking is excusable. 
If I were compelled to remain among them, drunkenness 
would soon become my chronic condition, and I would 
welcome the day that it killed me. Any decent man can 
live longer on whisky than he can exposed, in his sober 
senses, to the horrible sights and more horrible smells of 
the beastly Chinese. 

During the voyage, we had the full benefit of the 
north-east monsoon, or trade winds, which bowled us along 
at the rate of twelve or thirteen miles per hour. On the 
17th we passed east of the Gulf of Tonquin, in latitude 
the same as the southern shore of the island of Cuba. 
The heat at this time began to be oppressive, the ther- 
mometer at sun-up standing at seventy-eight degrees. 
This was, however, balmy spring compared with what we 
afterward experienced at Singapore and Penang, where 
the mercury danced around in the vicinity of one hundred 
degrees in the shade, and almost anywhere short of two 
hundred and twelve in the sun. While sweltering beneath 
an awning on the upper deck of the steamer and vainly 
endeavoring to keep comfortable, our minds reverted to 
our friends in Ohio, who were doubtless wrapped in heavy 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 159 

overcoats or toasting their toes before a fire. We were 
rapidly approaching that portion of the earth's surface 
directly opposite you. Singapore is almost the exact anti- 
pode of Bucyrus. 

On shipboard, as elsewhere, we were struck by the pe- 
culiarity which universally attaches to the English people. 
I believe I spoke of this subject briefly when detailing 
the voyage from San Francisco to Japan. In our more 
recent trip these disagreeable traits seemed even more con- 
spicuous. We had on board eight or ten English " swells/' 
and candor compels the assertion that nowhere have we 
encountered more disagreeable creatures, except Chinamen. 
They were given to rubbing the American fur the wrong 
way, and as we were the only representatives of the Great 
Republic present, the wordy collisions were by no means 
infrequent. We endeavored to hold up our end of the 
American log with considerable vigor, and, we flatter our- 
selves, with much success. As a class, the "blarsted Brit- 
ishers" know but little of America, and they seem to 
take the same delight in displaying their ignorance that 
more intelligent people do in exhibiting their knowledge. 
One asked me if New Orleans is near to San Francisco, 
and when I said three thousand miles, he exhibited un- 
mistakable signs of incredulity. I have not the least 
doubt that fellow at once assigned me a prominent position 
on his list of liars. Their " sophisticated ignorance " re- 
minded me much of the story of the English lord who 
came over to America on a hunting expedition, and spent 
the whole night on the rear platform of an Erie railroad 
sleeper, in the hope of securing a shot at a " ranch," which 
in the innocence of his lordly soul he thought was a species 
of buffalo. A lady passenger on the vessel inquired of 
me if it was really safe in Salt Lake City. With a well- 
assumed air of earnestness, I told her that thousands of 



160 WHAT I SAW, 

people had gone to that metropolis of the briny lake, and 
never returned. I did not care to explain that they were 
there yet, as that would have spoiled the look of horror, 
which I enjoyed keenly. 

On the morning of the 19th I was early on deck to 
enjoy the first view of the mainland of Malacca. It was 
not much of a sight, but the view possessed the virtue of 
being an incentive to early rising. We were surprised 
agreeably by the uniform calm which prevailed during our 
whole voyage on the China Sea, from Shanghai southward. 
The surface of the water was at all times placid, and fre- 
quently dazzling in its mirror-like reflections. 

Before noon on the 19th we sighted the city of Singa- 
pore, and came to anchor about three miles from the shore. 
The town is built upon an island, separated from the 
Malay peninsula by a narrow and scarcely navigable strait. 
The ancient capital of the Malayan kingdom, or, as it was 
sometimes known, the Kingdom of Malacca, formerly 
stood upon the site of the present town. The old city, as 
history tells us, was built in the twelfth century, and con- 
quered by a chief from Java, who transferred the royal 
residence to Malacca. From that period its population 
and importance gradually declined, until in 1819, when 
the English took possession, there were but few vestiges 
of the former city, which, indeed, had become but a haunt 
for pirates. The town bears all the appearance of being 
in a most prosperous condition ; its port is always crowded 
with shipping, and its merchants are thriving and wealthy. 
The population is estimated at about one hundred and 
sixty thousand, composed of representatives from almost 
every nation under the sun, Jews, Chinese, Arabs, Africans, 
Malays, etc., with perhaps a thousand Europeans, and not 
more than a score of Americans. Singapore, like most 
other places except heaven, is cursed with the Chinese, of 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 161 

whom there are at least seventy-five thousand. These 
various peoples retain their national habits and customs, 
and their peculiar modes of worship. The Chinaman 
grows his hirsute tail, smokes his opium, and offers incense 
to Joss ; the Arab sports his turban, invokes the name of 
Allah, and prostrates himself in the mosque ; while the 
European shaves his beard, drinks London porter, takes 
his pew in church, and d — ns the Chinese. There is a 
peculiarity in the history of this little island which should 
not be overlooked. It was actually purchased by the 
British Government, thus furnishing perhaps the only in- 
stance on record where England bought that which she 
could steal, or " possess," to use a more diplomatic term. 

The city of Singapore is of vast importance to England. 
By means of it, and with an effective naval force, the en- 
trance to the China sea may be controlled. Its position 
is very advantageous in a commercial point of view, from 
which it has become an entrepot for the neighboring 
kingdoms of Sumatra, Borneo, Siam, and Cochin China. 
Of itself, it may be said that the island of Singapore has 
little or no resources, its productions being very limited, 
yet so advantageously is it situated that it is to-day per- 
haps the most important commercial depot in the East 
Indies, where are received the products of the neighboring 
countries, for reciprocal exchange, and from whence they 
reach the markets of the world. 

The island upon which the city is situated is but about 
twenty-five miles long by fifteen in width. The authority 
of the English possessors extends, however, over a num- 
ber of contiguous and smaller islands. The main island 
outside of the city is distinguished for nothing except 
tigers and snakes. It is quite fashionable for visitors to 
engage in tiger hunts, but as I could not remember of 
having lost any tiger, I was not favorably impressed with 

11 



162 WHAT I SAW, 

the idea of hunting one. Neither am I in the snake 
business. These tigers are of the simon-pure species, gen- 
uine man-eaters, who prefer human flesh to any other. 
I was told that they have a special fondness for China- 
men. From that moment I lost my respect for the tiger. 
An animal that will eat a Chinaman may be doing the 
balance of the human race a favor, but his choice of food 
is not to be commended. It is said these animals swim 
across the narrow strait that separates the island from 
the main-land. They are the terror of all the residents 
outside of the city limits. In addition to the tigers there 
are deer and wild boar found upon the island, as well as 
several varieties of smaller animals, such as monkeys, 
peccaries, etc. 

After going ashore we hired a gharry and started out 
for our first view of the many attractive sights in the 
East Indies. This conveyance is a box about four by five 
feet, mounted upon four wheels, and drawn by a scrubby 
little pony. The driver runs alongside the animal and 
urges him to speed by persistent lathering fore and aft. 
After the proper degree of momentum has been secured, 
the driver will spring nimbly to a seat upon the thills and 
we scurry through the streets in a rapid if not very com- 
fortable or dignified manner. The true beauty of a trop- 
ical suburban road, lined with the luxuriant trees peculiar 
to the zone, is beyond the power of my pen to describe. 
We went out in the country some distance, careful, how- 
ever, not to forget the warning that this is the home of 
the tiger. We were told that but the day before our 
arrival a tiger was killed only a mile beyond the city 
limits. We were also regaled with a snake story that will 
test the credulity of my readers. It was to the effect that 
a few days before one of those genial reptiles was killed 
on the island, just after it had swallowed a wild boar, that 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 163 

measured one hundred and twenty feet. The bones are 
in the museum there, and can be seen. I am not going 
to ask any body to believe this yarn, and will not say that 
I am fully convinced of its entire truthfulness myself. 
The snakes undoubtedly grow very large in Singapore, 
but I do not think they fully reach the colossal propor- 
tions of the lies of the natives. 

A peculiarity of Singapore is the houses of the native 
Malays. They are universally built upon posts about 
eight feet high. This style of architecture in the tropics 
has several advantages. The elevation protects the in- 
mates from wild animals and reptiles, as well as the water, 
which, following heavy rains, often covers the ground in 
that part of the town where the. natives reside. In addi- 
tion to this, there is an economy of labor that should not 
he overlooked. The floors are of bamboo, through which 
the accumulated dirt in the dwelling above percolates, thus 
saving the good housewife the work of sweeping. In con- 
tradistinction to these are the elegant bungalows of the 
European residents. Gorgeous in their luxury, surrounded 
by groves of stately palms, provided with every appliance 
that can make life enjoyable, they are a very Paradise 
on earth. 

We penetrated nearly every nook and corner of the 
city, except the mosques and the Mohammedan cemeteries. 
Among other places we visited the celebrated Pigeon 
Pagoda. This overtops any thing in the way of a temple 
we have seen, being eight stories in height. The uni- 
versal worship of the pigeon by the Buddhists is one of 
the many mysteries that we have encountered in our 
travels through the East. In Singapore I saw a feather 
from a pigeon picked up carefully in the street and rever- 
ently carried to a shrine. I suppose these barbarians 
have some religious tradition connected with the pigeons 
that leads them to venerate the comely bird. 



164 WHAT I SA W, 

The one great pest we encountered at Singapore was 
the mosquitoes. I will not jeopardize my well established 
reputation for veracity by telling the result of a careful 
estimate made of their size. They are perhaps exceeded 
both in size and ferocity by the tigers, but I am not fully 
satisfied of the fact, as I had a disastrous experience with 
the mosquitoes, and carefully avoided an encounter with 
the tigers. On shipboard the pesky little varmints were a 
source of constant annoyance, and served to keep us awake 
all night. 

While promenading the upper deck, where we had 
been driven by the sweltering heat of the cabin, we were 
the involuntary witnesses of a sorrowful event on a neigh- 
boring native junk, which illustrates the callous-hearted- 
ness of the creatures who cumber this part of the divine 
footstool. A native sailor fell overboard, and, despite his 
agonizing cries for assistance, not the slightest effort was 
made to rescue him. He doubtless became food for the 
sharks which infest the bay, while his companions pur- 
sued the evenness of their way as if nothing unusual had 
occurred. 

One feature of the natives at Singapore attracts the at- 
tention of all travelers. It is the skill of the boys, who are 
true amphibia, apparently more at home in the water than 
on shore. These little fellows, ranging from six to ten 
years of age, will follow a five-cent piece thrown into the 
water and never fail to recover it before it reaches the 
bottom. The quick and skillful action of these water 
imps is surprising. One of them offered, if I would give 
him twenty cents, to dive under the steamer, which would 
have carried him down a depth of twenty-five feet, and 
forward not less than fifty. 

The shells and coral productions of the waters in the 
vicinity of Singapore surpass in delicate beauty the most 
florid conception of the liveliest imagination. The coral, 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 165 

prepared in the vast manufactory of nature, is of the most 
delicate texture, and of every conceivable shade of color, 
much too frail, however, for transportation. If it were 
possible to convey the finest specimens to New York, 
fortunes could be made in the business. The shells are 
of the finest character, dazzling in their delicate tints, and 
of every conceivable shape. The eye never wearies of ex- 
amining them, and the covetous nature never tires of 
longing for their possession. Here they are very cheap, 
but the transportation and duty would make them costly 
at home. In full proportion to these productions of the 
sea in the line of beauty are the feathered tribes that fill 
the groves in the vicinity of Singapore. Noticeable 
among these are the parrots, those birds of beautiful 
variegated plumage, but hideous voice. The natives 
brought loads of them to the ship to sell. If they had 
not such an infernally rasping voice, a cross between the 
filing of a saw and the bray of a donkey, they would be 
more desirable pets. Those of you who have had your 
nerves tortured by the screeching croak of these birds in 
captivity can form scarcely a definite idea of the effect 
produced upon the ear by a concert conducted by a thou- 
sand or two. Notwithstanding their attractive appearance, 
I can not help wishing that all the parrot heads were on 
one neck, and I had an opportunity to wring it. 

As I have before intimated, our opportunities for ex- 
ploring the country were much circumscribed by the 
danger from tigers. We were very desirous of visiting a 
nutmeg plantation, but the only means of conveyance 
available was the bullock cart. For some reason the 
tigers will not attack these animals. These bullocks have 
an immense hump on the shoulders, and resemble much 
the " sacred cows " that are sometimes exhibited in menag- 
eries in the States. So strong is the resemblance that the 



166 WHAT I SAW, 

suspicion has entered my mind that Dan Rice and his 
degenerate followers basely imposed upon the unsophisti- 
cated American people. If the natives of the Malay 
peninsula consider the animals sacred they have a very 
unsatisfactory manner of exhibiting their veneration. I 
saw hundreds of them in yokes and hitched to carts, draw- 
ing immense loads through the streets of Singapore. 

In one regard the Malays resemble the Chinese coolies; 
that is, in the almost entire absence of clothing. The 
Malay driver of a gharry or a bullock cart is clothed only 
in an abbreviated apron in front, much after the style 
adoped by our fore-parents when they first introduced the 
fig-leaf costume in the Garden of Eden. Their black hides 
are thoroughly rubbed with cocoanut oil, and shine like 
ebony. The women wear around the waist a long strip 
of cotton, the ends of which are allowed to fall nearly to 
the ground in front and rear. They wear rings in their 
noses and ears, and bracelets on arms and ankles. Both 
sexes have regular and rather engaging features. Some of 
the men have a frontal development that would indicate 
the opposite sex. 

On the second day of our stay at Singapore I went 
ashore alone, and enjoyed a pleasant ramble through the 
city and its environs. The tropical Orient must be a ver- 
itable paradise for a lazy man. Here every thing grows 
with prolific luxuriance, requiring no cultivation whatever. 
Nearly every human want is supplied by bountiful nature, 
and the resident has only to reach out his hand to grasp 
his food, and oftentimes if he will but open his mouth the 
fruit will drop into it. I gathered during my walk speci- 
mens of the bread fruit, banana, betel nut, etc., and passed 
by a greater variety and abundance than I could cata- 
logue in a week. I should think that the Indies would 
prove also a land of pure delight to the student of botany. 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 167 

Unfortunately my botanical education was neglected, but 
still I can fancy what a pleasing task would be the exam- 
ination and classification of the almost unlimited floral 
productions of this tropical land. Every thing here in 
nature is on a gigantic scale. One of the most beautiful 
specimens of vegetation which I examined closely was a 
fern fifteen feet in length. What an elegant parlor orna- 
ment that would make ! So also this would be an inter- 
esting field of research for the lover of animated nature. 
The fauna includes a vast variety of zoological specimens 
which are never heard of in America, and their classifica- 
tion would puzzle the most indefatigable student of 
Audubon. 

In my wanderings I met a very intelligent native who 
spoke English fluently. Of him I inquired concerning 
the mission work. In reply he said it was progressing, 
but the work was engaged in more for commercial than 
spiritual benefit. This corresponds with the impressions 
I received in China. My conviction is that the Malays 
present an inviting field for missionary labor. They are 
naturally intelligent, are not bigoted in their present re- 
ligious belief, and would, I think, readily absorb the 
teachings of Christianity. 

We remained but two days at Singapore, a much 
shorter stay than would have been pleasing, but the lapse 
of time admonishes us that we must be moving on. From 
Singapore we sailed for Penang, on the west coast of Ma- 
lacca, but the incidents of the trip, our sojourn at that 
place, and the voyage thence across the Bay of Bengal, 
will furnish material for a succeeding letter. 



168 WHAT I SAW, 



XV. 



Penang and the Bengal Sea — Among the Natives — An Obtuse 
Driver who did n't understand his Business — The Need op 
a Universal Language — Malay Funeral Procession — Liberal 
Provision for the Dead — Thanksgiving-day in the Tropics — 
Incidents of the Voyage and Arrival in Ceylon. 

Point De Galle, Ceylon, November 28, 1881. 

We sailed from Singapore at four o'clock on the after- 
noon of the 21st for Penang, and thence westward across 
the Bay of Bengal to the place from which I write. In 
the late and comparatively cool hours of the afternoon we 
enjoyed much the view of the island of Sumatra, close to 
the shores of which we passed, with the Malay peninsula 
on the right. The strait between is about seven miles 
wide, so that at no time until we had left Sumatra behind 
were we out of sight of land. The comparison between 
the landscape view of Sumatra and that of the main-land 
is marked. The former presents a succession of elevated 
hills, clad to their summits Avith dense foliage, a panorama 
of deep green which the eye never wearies of resting 
upon. The main-land, on the contrary, is a vast plain, 
covered by a seemingly impenetrable jungle, the home of 
the wild elephant, the tiger, immense serpents, and other 
varmints whose intimate acquaintance we do not seek. 

On some maps the port of Penang is called George- 
town, but this endeavor of our British cousins to Anglicize 
the East Indian names has not usually been successful, 
and the place is best known as Penang. We reached the 






AND HOW I SAW IT. 169 

port at an early hour in the morning, and, as our stay was 
limited, little time was lost in preparations for viewing 
such wonders as were in store for us. We procured one 
of those unique vehicles described in my last, and soon 
were bowling along over as fine a road as there is in the 
world — a smooth and level highway that would cause an 
Ohio farmer to turn green with envy. 

We were surprised at the extent of the city. We had 
in some mysterious way been led to suppose that it was a 
large place of considerable importance, commercial and 
otherwise; It is, however, a diminutive affair compared 
with the other cities we have visited, having, I should 
judge, not to exceed ten thousand inhabitants. Nor does 
it present any of the evidences of activity or progress that 
distinguish Singapore. If Penang ever was a flourishing 
city, its days of prosperity are evidently past. As a mat- 
ter of fact, however, the evidences of lethargy and inaction 
were a positive relief after days spent amidst the ever- 
lasting hurry and ceaseless activity of Hong Kong and 
Singapore. 

Being desirous of studying as thoroughly as the limited 
time at our disposal would allow, the productions of the 
country, we found opportunity much more availabe than 
at Singapore. There is not the same danger from blood- 
thirsty wild animals that teaches visitors to the former 
place the caution born of that first law of nature, self- 
preservation. Our first visit was to a nutmeg plantation. 
In our younger days, while we watched with eager eyes 
and more eager stomachs our good mothers sprinkle this 
aromatic condiment over the luscious custards, and in 
after years, when the same substance was made to add 
flavor to an exhilarating decoction mainly composed of 
warm water and sugar, we have wondered what were its 
original surroundings. A ride of a short distance brought 



170 WHAT 1 SAW, 

us to a plantation. The fruit grows upon a tree not un- 
like the young hickory tree of the second growth, and is 
of an appearance resembling the hickory-nut, being en- 
cased in a thick but easily removed shell. Having solved 
the nutmeg problem to our satisfaction, we next essayed a 
visit to a pepper grove. But our Malay Jehu, in the per- 
versity of his barbarism, could not be made to understand 
our desires. In the midst of our disappointment, when 
the temptation to emphatic language would have been 
stronger if there had been the slightest possibility of the 
nude and grinning native comprehending it, we envied 
Baron Humboldt the satisfaction he derived from being 
able to converse Avith nearly every person he met in his 
travels. For the convenience of most travelers there 
should be formulated a universal, if limited, dialect, in 
which a man could at least swear intelligibly. I do not 
know from experience, but have been told that profanity 
acts as a relief to a man's feelings, even though it does 
burden his conscience. But what satisfaction could there 
be in anathematizing a beastly Malay, who would grin in 
your face, and probably think you were praising his effi- 
ciency as a driver and guide. 

Well, we did n't see the pepper grove. We found 
much consolation, however, in loitering along the roads 
and examining the myriads of varieties of fruits, hundreds 
of which we had never heard of before. The most florid 
picture which pen has ever drawn of the luxuriance and 
variety of vegetation in the tropics has failed to do the 
subject half justice. On every hand, rising scores of feet 
above your heads, are the stately palms; beneath, a dense 
mass of beautiful trees and shrubbery, of unknown names 
and undreamed of luxuriance and beauty. Under your 
feet a carpet of moss and flowers, more beautiful and more 
variegated in design than ever came from the weaver's 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 171 

loom. There is, However, never a sweet without a bitter, 
and these groves are filled with wild animals whose very 
names strike terror to timid breasts, and within the meshes 
of the beautiful carpet lurk hideous insects whose touch 
is death. 

The clothing of the residents of Penang consists largely 
of cheap jewelry. The women wear rings in their ears, 
pendent from their noses, covering their arms, fingers, 
ankles, and toes, and doubtless wish they had unlimited 
additions to their anatomical development, so that they 
could display more rings. We saw hundreds of little ones 
as devoid of clothing as when they made their advent 
into the world, whose arms, legs, toes, and fingers were 
literally covered with rings. All are nearly black, with 
hides shining like polished ebony, the result of persistent 
rubbing with cocoa-nut oil. While their personal habits 
are not such as civilized people would care to introduce 
into their drawing-rooms, yet they are a quiet, peaceable 
people, frank, outspoken, and obliging; industrious, to a 
limited extent ; and presenting few of the disgusting traits 
which have given the Chinese such an unenviable reputa- 
tion in all parts of the world where they have intruded 
their unwelcome presence. These latter, of course, abound 
at Penang, and will finally, I predict, drive out the natives. 
The insinuating persistency of the Chinaman is one of his 
many national characteristics, and it may be that he will 
finally overrun the balance of the world as, some years 
since, the frogs overran Egypt, and for a similar reason, as 
a curse upon humanity. 

During our stay in Penang, we witnessed a native 
funeral. Our attention was first attracted by a hubbub in 
the street, which created the impression at once that a riot 
was in progress, or a revolution well under way. A close 



172 WHAT I SAW, 

inspection, however, indicated a funeral procession. In 
front was the coffin, followed by many tables, each bearing 
a roast pig and goat. The mourning, as is common 
among the people of all Eastern nations, was conducted in 
the most boisterous manner, probably for the purpose of 
frightening away evil spirits. Barbarians of every race 
have a horror of evil spirits, and, in return, they seem to 
think evil spirits have an equal horror of noise. It must 
be an evil spirit indeed that can withstand the hideous 
din attending a Malay funeral. The individual who, on 
this particular occasion, was being cared for must have 
been either normally hungry or else the journey before 
him was a long one. We counted eight large hogs and 
six goats in the rations which had been provided for him. 
Now, it is a question in my mind — and a reasonable one, 
too — what becomes of all these eatables that the natives, 
in the innocence of their unquestioning faith, lay upon the 
graves of their dead or offer at the shrines of their gods 
in the temples? The poor creatures are undoubtedly 
sincere in their actions, and think that the spirits of the 
dead or the inanimate gods, as the case may be, feast upon 
the luxuries which they provide for them. It would seem 
that the deception is so transparent that the most thor- 
oughly beclouded mind could see through it. But I sup- 
pose they are like some people in civilized countries : 
they will not see the error of their ways, even when it is 
made as palpable as their eyes themselves. 

At Penang we saw the animal known as the " elephant 
cow," a creature formed much like its namesake and quite 
large, weighing usually about 2,200 pounds. They are 
used as motive power for the native carts. 

Finally, after improving every moment of our time, 
and learning something of the peculiarities of the country 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 173 

and its people, we steamed out of the harbor, rounded the 
northern end of Sumatra, and thence bore due west across 
the Bay of Bengal to the island of Ceylon. 

Sea voyages are usually very monotonous, and our pas- 
sage from Penang would have been no exception to the 
rule had it not been for a scene we witnessed on the 
second day. We had read many stories of the sea-serpent, 
and had consistently followed the usual course and credited 
the yarns to the lively imagination of the sea-going origi- 
nators. We are now prepared, however, to revise all 
such hasty conclusions, because our eyes have looked upon 
a veritable sea-serpent. The announcement of its pres- 
ence caused quite a commotion on board, leading all to 
the side of the vessel. Sure enough, there it was, not two 
hundred yards from the ship, skimming along, with its 
head raised several feet above the surface, and apparently 
careless of the proximity of we "lords of creation." Its 
neck and so much of the body as was exposed above the 
water, seemed to be about eight inches in diameter. We 
had no opportunity to even estimate its entire length. 
This was not a very big sea-serpent, but probably a 
younger member of the family out for a little time by 
itself. 

During the passage, we experienced the most terrific 
thunder-storm in our record, or that we ever care to ex- 
perience, for that matter. Flash blended with flash of the 
most vivid character, and peal mingled with peal of thun- 
der that seemed to make the very ocean beneath us trem- 
ble. The rain fell, not in drops or sheets, but in seemingly 
great masses of solid water. The sea remained perfectly 
calm, and appeared to smile at the efforts of the upper 
elements to create a serious disturbance Avithout its aid. 

November 24th was Thanksgiving-day at home, when 
old friends and neighbors gathered about the family board 



174 WHAT I SAW, 

to mingle thanks to Providence with the partaking of 
good cheer. While we wandering Buckeyes had no less 
cause to be thankful, the day was spent in a manner dif- 
ferent from the way in which it was observed at home. 
While our friends were devoting the fleeting hours to 
social intercourse we were passing the northern end of the 
island of Sumatra. As we gazed upon the rapidly dis- 
appearing land, clothed in all the luxuriant verdure of the 
tropics, our minds traveled far away until they rested 
amid the familiar scenes of home. We pictured the many 
happy firesides where we were wont to be welcome guests, 
and wondered if, in the midst of the social entertainments 
of the day, a thought ever went out to the wanderers at 
the antipodes, who, though enjoying the many novelties 
of their surroundings, find time to remember that no spot 
has attractions equal to home. 

At the north end of Sumatra is Gold Mountain, said 
to be ten thousand feet high. It is the last point of land 
previous to sighting the island of Ceylon, and for hours 
after the shore line had disappeared from view its massive 
shape loomed up to the sky, finally, however, becoming 
hazy and indistinct in the distance, and disappeared at 
last in a bank of clouds. 

The brief voyage from Penang to this port was im- 
pressed chiefly upon our minds by the intense heat. 
Nothing the people of the States experience is to be com- 
pared with it. At home there is an occasional surcease 
from the torridity ; at times a cooling breeze gives relief. 
In the tropics the heat is continuous — a melting, broiling, 
nerve-destroying concentration of discomfort, which can 
not be enjoyed, but must be endured. On last Thanks- 
giving-day I drove sixteen miles over snow ten to twelve 
inches in depth. Oh, how I longed for one draught of 
the bracing air which then seemed too cold. 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 175 

With plenty of leisure we regaled ourselves with spec- 
ulations upon the improbable, and our fancy pictured the 
home Hunting Club, in all the panoply of dogs and 
breech-loading shotguns in the jungles of Sumatra hunt- 
ing tigers or being hunted by them, as the animals might 
select. The climax of absurdity was reached, however, 
when our fertile imaginations drew the picture of one dis- 
tinguished Nimrod beating the bush for a tiger and finding 
it all too soon. 

We passed within sight of the island of Sumatra for a 
distance of two hundred and fifty miles. As I have said, 
it is quite mountainous and inhabited mainly by wild ani- 
mals of a. character unsuited to intimate acquaintance, 
which share the glories of the tropical clime with equally 
wild natives. These latter are known as Atchinese, and 
since a time almost when history records nothing to the 
contrary, they have waged a defensive warfare against the 
Dutch occupants of the island. • 

The specimens of fruits which I have accumulated 
during our brief wandering would tempt the appetite of 
an anchorite. As I write there are spread before me on 
the table pineapples, oranges, bananas, mangosteens, cocoa- 
nuts, bread fruit, betel nuts, and a myriad of others whose 
names I do not know. The nutmeg is the most hand- 
some, and, by its peculiar formation, presents the most in- 
teresting study. In appearance when gathered it re- 
sembles a hickory nut. The outer coating or shell opens 
in quarters, and discloses a red lining, the mace of com- 
merce ; beneath that is the nut proper, which in its fresh 
state resembles but little the article as it reaches the con- 
sumer. The betel nut is the product of a species of palm 
tree. It is much favored by the natives, who chew it 
persistently, producing a discoloration of the lips and 
teeth which gives rise, upon first view, to the suspicion 



176 WHAT I SAW, 

that the consumer has been engaged in a muscular contro- 
versy and got the worst of the argument. 

Our route across the Bay of Bengal was along the 
fifth degree of north latitude, or about three hundred and 
fifty miles north of the equator. We have not crossed, 
and will not during our travels cross, the line. At Singa- 
pore we were within half a hundred miles of it — near 
enough, as the Irishman remarked, for all practical 
purposes. 

We reached this point on the 27th, eight days ahead 
of time, and nearly as far from home as it is possible for 
human beings to get. We have been peculiarly fortunate. 
During the entire voyage of more than ten thousand miles, 
we have encountered none of the " dangers of the deep." 
With the exception of a slight meteorological disturbance 
on the Pacific Ocean, our travels have been as pleasant as 
a steamboat trip on the Mississippi, and seemingly as safe. 
The Pacifio well sustained its reputation, and the China 
Sea and Indian Ocean, perhaps feeling the precious nature 
of their burden, have been as kind, considerate and sooth- 
ing as a loving mother. We read of the terrific storms 
that periodically sweep over these seas, but have experi- 
enced none of them. Neither of us has been sick an 
hour, and the plethoric chest of medicines we supplied 
ourselves with before starting has never been opened. 

It will be two weeks before we can secure passage to 
Calcutta. The time, however, will doubtless be spent 
very pleasantly, as Ceylon is prolific of sights and tradi- 
tions to interest the traveler. We have arranged, so far 
as possible, to sail from Bombay for Egypt on January 
14th, so as to reach Cairo, and leave for the trip up the 
Nile February 5th, instead of 10th, as originally contem- 
plated. This will give us thirty days in which to "do" 
India. 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 177 

Our impressions of Ceylon are not as yet crystallized 
into shape, but I hope ; after our return from Columbo 
and Kandy, where most of our fortnight on the island 
will be spent, to have something to say which will interest 
my readers. 

12 



178 WHAT I SAW, 



XVI. 

Ceylon and the Cingalese — Historical Sketch op the Island — 
Its People — Natural Productions — A Veritable Earthly 
Paradise — Incidents of a Sojourn. 

Point De Galle, Ceylon, Dece7nber j, 1881. 

Since the date of my last letter, we have had many 
experiences, all pleasant. We have roamed over a large 
part of this earthly paradise ; have driven a distance of 
seventy miles and return, over what is said to be the 
finest and most picturesque road in the world ; have visited 
Colombo, Kandy, and other points of interest, and have 
secured more positive enjoyment than was to be obtained 
in any other country which we have visited. This sultry 
Sunday afternoon, when we are incapacitated by the ex- 
treme heat for physical exertion, and are surfeited with 
sight-seeing, I have seated myself in my room at the 
hotel, hoping that the small amount of energy which I 
have been able to retain will be sufficient to carry my 
pencil through a brief and necessarily incomplete account 
of what we have seen and how we saw it. 

Ceylon has long been known to Europe, so long, in fact, 
that it bears a more or less prominent part in ancient his- 
tory. The first accounts of the island were received from two 
of the commanders of the fleet dispatched by Alexander the 
Great. A description of the island may be found in the 
works of ancient authors ; both Pliny and Ptolemeus have 
left accounts of its character and- condition. Tradition, 
rather than history, tells us that the Persians had formed 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 179 

a Christian establishment on the coast before the sixth 
century ; and in the thirteenth Marco Polo, the venture- 
sonie Portuguese who devoted nine-tenths of a long life to 
visiting countries that nobody had ever heard of, and the 
other tenth to telling stories that nobody believed, so- 
journed for a period in Ceylon. His description of the 
beauties of the island were glowing, and though at that 
time they were considered the exaggerations of a fevered 
imagination, subsequent investigation proved them not 
overdrawn. Sir John Mandeville, an eminent English 
traveler, visited Ceylon about fifty years afterward, and 
found much to indorse in the florid description of his pred- 
ecessor. The Portuguese were the first to firmly estab- 
lish themselves in the country. Early in the sixteenth 
century, after having discovered the Cape of Good Hope, 
they pushed forward toward India. Arriving at Ceylon, 
they found the natives engaged in civil war, and by offer- 
ing themselves as mediators they succeeded in gaining a 
permanent lodgment. In 1520 strong fortifications were 
erected at Colombo. Subsequently the natives revolted, 
and, aided by the Dutch, the hereditary enemies of the 
Portuguese, succeeded, after a war lasting twenty years, 
in defeating their opponents, but it was not until 1656 
that the Portuguese were finally expelled from the island. 
The subsequent history of Ceylon is varied. During the 
wars at the end of the seventeenth century, the French ob- 
tained a lodgment on the island, but they were ejected by the 
British, who in turn were forced to give way to the Dutch, 
who continued to hold it until it was wrested from them 
by the English in 1796. At that time the European do- 
minion did not extend over the whole island, and it was 
not until 1815 that the British, in the manner peculiar to 
their policy, formally took possession of the entire territory, 
Avhich they have since retained. There can be no doubt 



180 WHAT I SAW, 

that the English protectorate has been a blessing to the 
country. In every material regard it has progressed, and 
the many elements of civilization to be met on ev^ry 
hand are as surprising as they are gratifying to the trav- 
eler. In the towns and larger villages, where the influ- 
ences of civilization are felt, schools have been established, 
and are well patronized. In these the English language 
is taught, and it was rare in our tour to find any persons 
who could not speak a little English. Of course, in some 
parts of the island it is different. But everywhere there 
is peaceful quietness, the natives being in the full enjoy- 
ment of the luxurious ease which can be found nowhere 
outside the tropics. 

In the early years, before the occupation of the island by 
the Europeans, Ceylon was one of the richest and most 
productive of the kingdoms of the Orient. The natives, at 
a very early period, showed great skill in the development 
of the natural resources, and increased the fertility of the 
soil by ingenious modes of artificial irrigation, and there 
yet remain numerous vestiges of extensive works, in the 
form of immense basins used for collecting the water dur- 
ing the heavy but periodical falls of rain. Authentic 
history does not record the construction of these immense 
tanks, and their continued preservation is a monument to 
the skill and active industry of the natives. 

Although we have suffered much from the heat during 
our sojourn here, we have been given to understand that 
the present warmness is exceptional, and that the temper- 
ature does not often rise above ninety degrees for more 
than a few hours at a time. There is a great difference 
in the climate between the northern and southern parts of 
the island, and a curious effect results; for on one side of 
a mountain, while the rain is falling copiouslv, on the 
other the crops are suffering from the severe drought. 



AND HO W 1 SA W IT. 181 

This is caused by the sea breezes. The climate is com- 
paratively healthy, and it is said the death-rate does not 
exceed three per cent. The country is not often subject 
to epidemics and in this regard is fortunately unlike the 
contiguous main-land of India. With all its natural ad- 
vantages, however, the island at present is not as flourish- 
ing as might be expected. The productiveness of the soil 
is almost unlimited, yet the exports are not great. Labor 
may be obtained, too, for twelve cents a day, and yet the 
agricultural districts are not as flourishing as they should 
be. The same deficiency is encountered in every tropical 
land. The very fact that the soil is so prolific, that the 
means of luxurious subsistence is provided by bountiful 
nature without an effort on the part of the people, seems — 
and perhaps naturally — to deprive the human animal of 
every willingness for exertion. They reasonably feel that 
the most pleasure in existence can be found in the least 
exertion, and the theory is almost universally applied. I 
can only say that I envy them their luxurious ease, where 
the only necessary effort is that of breathing. The princi- 
pal diet is fish, rice, and cocoanuts. 

Of the productions of the island, the cocoanut is prob- 
ably the most valuable to the natives. Everywhere in 
Ceylon, as far as the eye can reach, extensive forests of 
the tree are to be seen, and the numerous excellent roads 
throughout the country are bordered with it. The cocoa- 
nut palm has a great variety of uses. The green nut, with 
its delicate, albuminous fruit and refreshing milk, is an 
article of food very nutritious and not to be despised by 
the palates of epicures. When ripe, the kernel of the 
nut is dried, forming what the natives term copperal, and 
an oil of value is expressed from it, the residuum forming 
an excellent food for the fattening of animals. Even the 
husk of the nut is utilized, being manufactured into a 



182 WHAT I SAW, 

kind of rope, large quantities of which are exported. The 
shells are formed into a variety of articles useful in the 
household economy. Even the tree has its uses. From 
its sap fluid is obtained which the natives call " toddy/' 
and which, after distillation, becomes arrack, a species of 
liquor which through the East Indies serves as a substi- 
tute for whisky. I understand that it is eminently suc- 
cessful in producing the desired effect, but I saw no evi- 
dence of it being used to excess. The other staples of 
Ceylon are cinnamon, coffee, sugar, rice, arica nut, pre- 
cious stones, plumbago, and other vegetables and animal 
productions. The pearl fisheries, which years since were 
very remunerative and famous, have declined greatly, and 
are no longer the source of revenue that formerly distin- 
guished them. Various reasons for this are assigned, one 
of which is that the pearl oyster has migrated. The most 
plausible reason, however, is found in the fact that the 
fisheries were overworked, and that the mollusks were 
frequently destroyed before the pearl matured. This, of 
course, proved disastrous to the trade. Pearl diving is 
still, however, followed by many of the natives, and some 
of them find it quite remunerative. 

Ceylon abounds in rich vegetation and many trees of 
vigorous growth, among which, in addition to the various 
species of palm, there is the kittal tree, from the sap of 
which is produced a kind of coarse sugar, and from its 
fruit, when dried and reduced to powder, a substitute for 
rice flour. The talepot, with its luxuriant foliage, is one 
of the wonders of the island ; a single leaf of this tree is 
sufficient to cover beneath its shade several persons, and 
it supplies, when softened by boiling and afterward pressed 
and dried, a substitute for paper, upon which the natives 
were formerly in the habit of writing. It is, I believe, 
still used to some extent, but not so generally as before 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 183 

the supplies of the genuine article became so ample. 
The cinnamon, with its beautiful white blossoms and red- 
tipped leaves, gives a pleasing variety to the prevailing 
green tint of vegetation, but the stories of the fragrance 
exhaled by these trees and plants, which some writers 
describe as sensible at a distance from land, are a gross 
exaggeration. In truth, we have had occasion to note 
during our travels through the East the prevailing lack of 
fragrance among the flowers. Many of the most beautiful 
specimens of nature's art are wholly barren of perfume. 
Rich woods of various kinds, such . as ebony, rose, satin, 
and lime, grow in abundance on the island. 

Ceylon, like other tropical countries, is infested with a 
variety of wild animals, of a character calculated to beget 
caution on the part of travelers. Those deep, dark jun- 
gles, whose beauty entrances the eye, hide in their depths 
myriads of elephants, hyenas, tiger-cats, bears and reptiles 
of great variety. The number of elephants is surprising. 
So plenty are they, and so destructive to the plantations 
that the government formerly paid a reward of about two 
dollars for each elephantine tail. Why they should desig- 
nate the tail I do not know, unless it is for the same 
reason that, under similar circumstances, a reward would 
be paid for the caudal appendage of a mule, assured that 
the animal must be dead before the tail could be secured. 
This policy of the government has, I understand, been 
changed, and now hunters are required to pay for the 
privilege of killing them. 

Naturalists tell us that there are but twenty varieties 
of serpents, four only of which are venomous, the cobra 
and tic prolango being the most deadly. We have seen 
none except in the hands of the snake charmers, and it is 
probably unnecessary to add that we have no desire to. 
The last mentioned variety is credited with a vast deal of 



184 WHAT I SAW, 

cunning, it being said that it will await in concealment 
the approach of a traveler and without warning sink its 
horrid fangs into his flesh, the slightest touch of which is 
swift and certain death. 

The Christian religion was introduced at a very early 
period into Ceylon. Tradition says that the Apostle 
Thomas preached here. However this may be, it is cer- 
tain that the Nestorians accompanied the Persians here as 
early as the fifth century, and made many converts. The 
religion seems, however, to have died out, as, upon the 
arrival of the Portuguese no remnants of Christian wor- 
ship remained. Here as in Japan, we are indebted to 
Francis Xavier for the permanent establishment of Chris- 
tianity. This zealous propagandist followed the Portu- 
guese, and the result of his earnest and effective work is 
found in the fact that a large percentage of the Christian 
natives are Roman Catholics. Were I so disposed, I could 
assign what I consider a valid reason for this, outside of 
the early work of the Catholic proselyters. The Church 
of England is, of course, sustained in accord with the be- 
lief of the British authorities. There are missionaries of 
all the different sects engaged in the endeavor to evan- 
gelize the natives, but with what success does not appear, 
as apostasy is so frequent among the people as to be al- 
most the rule. The predominant religion among the na- 
tives is Buddhist. There are numerous Buddhist temples 
in the island, some of which preserve an impressive aspect. 
There is one of great antiquity, and so much venerated 
as to attract visitors from various parts of India. "We 
were surfeited with temples in Japan, and this one had 
no charms for us. 

The population of Ceylon is estimated at one million 
five hundred thousand, of whom about five thousand are 
white. The inhabitants are composed of the natives, 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 185 

termed Cingalese, and a small proportion of Europeans, 
principally government officials and tradesmen and their 
families. Added to these are Malays, and, of course, the 
omnipresent Chinese. The Cingalese are less ugly in 
appearance than was expected, many of them, in fact, 
having expressive and even handsome features, and their 
forms are not without symmetry. They seem to be amia- 
ble in disposition, as industrious as their circumstances 
require, and faithful to their obligations. The dress of 
the lower and middle classes is a little nearer the bounds 
of indecency than would be permitted in the States. They 
wear a single garment only, composed of colored cotton 
cloth. This is wrapped around the waist, the ends falling 
in front and rear, forming a sort of skirt. From the 
waist upward nothing is worn. When alone and pro- 
tected from the gaze of the general public, the skirts of 
the garment named, instead of being allowed to fall around 
the limbs, are gathered up and wrapped in turban shape 
about the head. The eifect is very picturesque, and it has 
an advantage in enabling the stranger to distinguish the 
sex without difficulty, which is often impossible when the 
garment is worn in the manner prescribed by the not 
very strict rules of society. Some of the aborigines, who 
live in the forest fastnesses, confine themselves in dress to 
the simple wardrobe of nature. The men allow their hair 
to grow to a great length, which they foster with much 
care, and fasten in a coil at the tops of their heads with 
large tortoise-shell combs, such as our ladies at home 
might not be ashamed to wear. 

In addition to the Cingalese, who are doubtless de- 
scendants of the aborigines of the island, there are the 
Malabars, Avhom tradition traces to the shores of India,, 
and whose religion and social characteristics would seem 
to connect them with that country. They are Hindoos, 



186 WHAT I SAW, 

and preserve their religion and system of caste, together 
with the costumes of their original country, as well as 
their language, somewhat modified, however, by their rela- 
tions with the Cingalese. The neighboring islands and 
continents supply a population of Mohammedans to Cey- 
lon, and they abound in several parts of the country, 
where, in the various orders into which their social laws 
divide them, they carry on a prosperous business as weav- 
ers, fishermen, merchants, etc. They are among the most 
enterprising and thriving of the population, and their 
well-known skill and industry have secured them much of 
the commercial wealth and influence of the island. 

Here at Point De Galle we are comfortably housed in 
a fine hotel, the " Eglington," presided over by the prince 
of landlords, to whom we are indebted for many kind- 
nesses. The heat is so intense that venturing out except 
in the morning and evening is not only uncomfortable but 
positively dangerous to those who are not thoroughly 
acclimated. Consequently we are perforce early risers. 
We breakfast at half-past 9, lunch at 1, and dine at 7. 

Here, as elsewhere, new-comers are besieged by an 
army of peddlers — those persistent peripatetic venders of 
various wares that seem to be coextensive with the earth's 
surface. First comes a dealer in precious stones, asking 
two, five, or ten dollars each. I have a firmly imbedded 
impression that the purchaser would be swindled if he 
paid half a.s many cents. No sooner have these fellows 
been driven away than their places are taken by fan, shawl, 
or traffickers in other commodities of use or ornament. 
Finally a snake charmer entered and at once began opera- 
tions by taking from a basket a hideous, slimy, deadly 
cobra, and persisted, despite our repeated commands to 
"get," in passing it around his neck, through his arms, 
and in every way to handle it as a child would a 



AND HOW 1 SAW IT. 187 

toy. Ugh! the hideous thing! It makes my flesh creep 
to think of it. And the bite of the reptile is as certain 
and almost as sudden death as a bullet through the heart. 
It was a positive relief when the fellow retired and gave 
way to a fresh relay of peddlers. Some of the articles 
they exhibit are wonderfully beautiful, and, provided the 
buyer knows how to drive a bargain, can be obtained 
very cheap. I conducted for several hours negotiations 
for a pair of ivory miniature elephants, and finally secured 
them for forty cents. I thought they were cheap, and 
they certainly were, but my pride was considerably damp- 
ened when I was informed that I had paid just twice what 
they were worth. Tortoise-shell combs, of delicate designs 
and elegant finish, that would delight the soul of an 
American belle, can be obtained for a few cents. 

There is certainly an unnecessary plenitude of un- 
pleasant " varmints " in Ceylon. Lodgers at the hotel have 
to be watchful of their doors and windows at night, if 
they chance to be sleeping on the first floor, as the sacred 
precincts of their chambers are liable to be invaded by 
crocodiles or snakes. Fortunately our room is on the 
second floor, and we feel comparatively safe from such 
unwelcome visitors. I have always been under the im- 
pression that crocodiles, while amphibious, confine them- 
selves to the immediate vicinity of water. In Ceylon, 
however, they, particularly the young ones, perambulate 
even through the streets of the villages. I do not know 
whether they are pets, but certain it is they are never 
molested. The mosquitoes we always have with us, di- 
minutive, unmusical little fellows, whose powers for mis- 
chief, I can assure you, are greatly disproportionate to 
their size. They serve one good purpose, that of arousing 
us to spasmodic energy and driving away for the time 
being that feeling of lazy, do n't-care-a-centativeness that 



188 WHAT I SAW, 

creeps gradually, but surely, over the traveler in the 
tropics. 

Near sunset on the evening after our arrival we strolled, 
in company with our landlord, T)utside the walls of the city. 
The old city of Point de Galle is surrounded by a wall 
about forty feet high and perhaps twenty thick, constructed 
centuries since by the Portuguese. At present it serves 
no particular purpose, unless it be that of increasing al- 
most beyond endurance the heat from which the inter- 
mural population suffer. They are shut off completely 
from the breezes that make existence at least endurable 
to the outsiders. The scenes presented to our view as we 
walked leisurely through a road leading out into the 
country were novel and calculated to impress the wander- 
ing Yankee with the possibilities of the country and the 
woeful shiftlessness of the population. There is probably 
not a more prolific soil in the world, not a spot where the 
earth yields more liberally, yet there is seemingly an al- 
most entire lack of system in the cultivation, and not one- 
tenth of the crops are raised that could be produced. It 
is, however, one of the provisions of nature that the in- 
dustries of a people shall be in proportion to their neces- 
sities. A Hindoo would starve to death in Scotland, and 
it is probable that the thrifty Scotchman would, in a few 
generations, become as indolent and shiftless as the natives 
if transferred to the tropics. The road along which our 
promenade extended is lined with stately cocoanut palms, 
among which are the thatched huts of the natives. "We 
visited a nutmeg plantation in the vicinity of the city, and 
returned to the hotel for a late dinner. 

The following day, still enjoying the guidance and 
genial companionship of our landlord, we devoted to fur- 
ther explorations of the vicinity. In the morning we rode 
out a distance of about ten miles. At the risk of being 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 189 

thought extravagant, I am prepared to say that no spot on 
earth whereon my eyes have rested will equal in attractive- 
ness the island of Ceylon. Our route carried us through 
beautiful valleys, over gradual ascents, wooded knolls where 
the luxuriance of tropical vegetation was exhibited in all its 
varied beauty. We paused at times in shaded dells, where 
the blistering rays of the sun never penetrate, and where 
one could ask only to remain forever. We passed a number 
of coffee plantations, and studied briefly, under the tuition 
of our guide, the mode of cultivating the berry. The tree 
in Ceylon grows to the height of about four or five feet, and 
is covered with a dark, smooth, and shining evergreen foli- 
age. The shrubs are raised by hand in nurseries and trans- 
planted when about six months old. It comes into full 
bearing at the age of three years, and under proper care 
Avill continue to bear for thirty years. A peculiarity of 
the tree is that it has no season for blossoming or bear- 
ing, the process being continuous — the blossoms and ma- 
tured berries being found upon the same tree at the same 
time. Sometimes the natives prepare an infusion of the 
leaves, much as a decoction of tea is made. The leaves 
contain the same properties as the berries, but to a more 
limited extent, and the product possesses a flavor somewhat 
different from the genuine article. 

The cinnamon is indigenous to Ceylon, and during our 
ride we plucked some branches from a bush not unlike 
our hazelnut in appearance. We witnessed the process of 
peeling the bark, which when dried forms the cinnamon 
of commerce. Pineapples, that luscious fruit which is 
classed among the luxuries the world over, grows wild in 
Ceylon, and in places the road is literally lined with them. 
Another peculiar production of this land of plenty is the 
lemon grass, from which is distilled an oil known as lemon 
oil. This grass has, of course, no connection with the 



190 WHAT I SAW, 

citrus limonum, or lemon producing tree, but is very similar 
in flavor to the lemon. 

In the afternoon we drove to the famous bungalow 
"Wackwalla, noted for the extensive view of Adam's Peak, 
and the general range of Ceylonese mountains. The 
scenery is a repetition of that upon the morning drive, 
with a pleasant variety provided by beautiful parrots and 
agile monkeys staring at us from the branches of the 
trees. The monkey wild is simply the creature which pro- 
vides a fund of amusement for the patrons of menageries 
at home, improved and perfected by freedom. The fan- 
tastic tricks which at home bring smiles to the most 
sedate countenances are here seen in an exaggerated and 
greater laugh-producing form. 

One of the drawbacks of a residence, as I have before 
intimated, is the prevalence of reptiles of various dis- 
agreeable species. Here in the hotel w r e have been more 
startled than entertained by the presence of an immense 
lizard in the tiling of the roof over our bedroom. He makes 
his presence known by a continuous "cluck," "cluck." 
They are said not to be dangerous, but are disagreeable 
companions nevertheless. 

In the evening, after our return from the drive to the 
bungalow Wackwalla, we completed our preparations for 
the trip to Colombo by stage, and thence by rail to Kandy. 
The latter may be remembered by my readers as the place 
of retreat selected by one Harlow Case, who some years 
ago stole the wife of the collector at Sandusky, together 
with thirty-five thousand dollars. The retributive justice 
which overtook the offender, the death of his companion, 
and the fleeing from Ceylon of the broken-hearted victim 
of remorse, formed a few years ago the basis of a touch- 
ing romance. The incidents of the trip will be reserved 
for another chapter. 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 191 



XVII. 

Further of Ceylon — Trip to Colombo and Kandy — The Ancient 
and Modern Capitals — Something more op the Natives — 
Railroading in the Tropics — Some Disadvantages op a 
Residence. 

Point De Galle, Ceylon, December 6, 1881. 

After partaking of a hurried breakfast at the hotel, 
composed of toast, eggs, and other home-like delicacies, 
we took our seats in the royal mail coach, bound for 
Colombo, a distance of seventy miles. There were seven 
passengers, who, together with the driver, trumpeter, and 
mail man, filled our complement of ten. The horses are 
a cross between the Australian and Arabian breeds, and, 
all being stallions, are apparently as vicious as they are 
restless. Each animal is held firmly by an attendant until 
the driver gives the word. Then they spring forward in 
unison, and for miles carry us onward at the height of 
their speed, the wheels spinning, the dust flying, the trum- 
peter blowing his shrill blasts of warning to pedestrians, 
and the miles passing behind us like the shadows of a 
swift-flying cloud. The first six miles were covered in 
thirty minntes, and as we drew up to the station, our 
horses covered with foam and ourselves exhilarated by the 
rapid motion and pure morning breeze, we felt that trav- 
eling in Ceylon had its manifold pleasures. Along the 
road over which we passed is a continuous succession of 
villages, so close together that the intervening spaces are 
scarcely discernible. These, villages are inhabited almost 
wholly by natives, who might be called half-civilized. By 



192 WHAT I SAW, 

contact with and under the influence of foreigners much 
of their original rough surfaces and sharp corners have 
been smoothed, and they present the aspect of a people in 
the transition state between barbarous savagery and quali- 
fied civilization. 

Schools are abundant, and are liberally patronized. A 
peep into a native school in Ceylon brings to view a scene 
at once novel and picturesque. Imagine if you can a low 
thatched hut, where the light struggles in through the 
numerous apertures in the wall and falls upon a collection 
of naked imps, of both sexes, who are barren of adorn- 
ment except the circlets of gold which cover their fingers, 
arms, and toes. I understand they are bright pupils, 
quick and eager to learn and possessed of retentive mem- 
ories. It is the ambition of most Cingalese to obtain a 
knowledge of the English language, as thus the avenues 
of lucrative and honorable employment are open to them. 
The native who has mastered the English language, se- 
cured the rudiments o± an education and entered the serv- 
ice of the government or a commercial establishment, 
considers himself several degrees removed above his less 
fortunate fellows, and puts on a degree of airs that is 
positively amusing. 

Among the varied sights in these villages is that of 
young crocodiles, three or four feet long, who parade the 
streets as freely as the children. They are harmless and 
are never disturbed by the natives, who have some sort 
of a belief that the spirits of their ancestors have trans- 
migrated into these slimy reptiles. I have no special antip- 
athy to a crocodile, but if my soul is to enter any kind 
of a beast after my mortal part is done with it, I would 
prefer that it should exercise more discrimination than to 
select either a crocodile or a Chinaman. 

There are no people in the world whom I have en- 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 



193 



countered that are wholly without commendatory features, 
except the Chinese, and we see much in the temperaments 
and habits of the 
Cingalese to admire. 
They are universally 
cleanly in their per- 
sons and houses, and 
even the streets of 
their villages are 
kept free from the 
accumulations of. 
garbage and other 
filth, that too often 
distinguish other and 
more civilized places. 
This is probably ow- 
ing greatly to the 
presence of the pesky 
little crocodiles, 
which are said to be 
omniverous in their 
habits. They will 
eat any thing from a 
camp-kettle to a 
puppy, but they 
never disturb the 
little pickaninnies 
who roam through 
the highways in 
reckless abandon. 
The road over 




The Cocoanut Palm of Ceylon. 



which we passed lies in the west part ot the island, and 
certainly sustains its reputation for being the finest high- 
way in the world. For miles upon miles it passes through 

13 & 



194 WHAT I SAW, * 

a dense grove of the different varieties of the palm, varied 
at times by a coffee, pepper, or nutmeg plantation. Many 
of the latter are thousands of acres in extent, and are, 
even under the prevailing superficial system of cultiva- 
tion, the source of immense revenue. I have previously 
given a brief and incomplete account of the growing of 
coffee and nutmeg. If I were to undertake a description 
of the pepper fruits, it would prove an endless task, as 
there are said by naturalists to be no less than six hun- 
dred varieties. The common black pepper is the dried, 
unripe fruit of the piper nigrum, a kind of vine, on which 
the growing fruit looks a little like small grapes. To the 
taste these are excessively acrid, combining to a great ex- 
tent the qualities of Indian turnip and persimmon. No 
one cares about experimenting upon it more than once. 
The bread fruit is a peculiar production of the tropics, 
which fully sustains its suggestive name. The tree grows 
to the height of about forty or fifty feet and is perhaps a 
foot in diameter, and, like the cocoanut palm, almost every 
part of the product is utilized in some way. The fruit is 
larger than the cocoanut, and the seeds are large, nut-like 
bodies, which, when roasted, are said to be as fine as the 
best chestnuts. The fleshy pulp is, however, the valuable 
part of the fruit. It is as white as snow and of the con- 
sistence of new bread, and when baked becomes excellent 
food, tasting not unlike the genuine wheaten bread. A 
cloth is made from the fiber of the inner bark, the wood 
is used for making boats and building houses. The male 
ament, or non-productive pod, is useful for tinder, the 
leaves are useful for towels and to wrap provisions in, 
while the juice is used in the manufacture of a kind of 
cement for filling up the cracks of water vessels. 

During our trip up the country we secured our first 
view of a case of what is known as the " white leprosy." 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 195 

The peculiar appearance of a native, as black as midnight 
by nature, covered with white spots looking like drops of 
whitewash, is very peculiar. The white leprosy is dry, 
and consequently not so hideous in its appearance as the 
more common variety, which exudes the most sickening 
suppuration. 

Fishing is the occupation of a large proportion of the 
Cingalese on the sea-shore. The nets are prodigious 
affairs, stretching out for a mile in a semicircle, and the 
drawing is the occasion of a grand holiday, and the 
women and children assist in the process of dragging the 
net. An almost incredible amount and variety of fish is 
the result, and, as fish composes a large part of the diet 
of the natives of these sections, their happiness and 
physical content rises in due proportion to the extent of 
the haul. 

Among our passengers in the stage was an educated 
native, from whom I derived much information concerning 
the country and its people. He told me the missionaries 
had done some good, but the trouble is, that the natives, 
as soon as they derive a material benefit from the educa- 
tion given and the influence extended, return to the Bud- 
dhist faith. He unhesitatingly admitted that the English 
dominion of the island had proven a blessing to the peo- 
ple, infusing energy into the natives and creating in their 
sluggish minds an ambition for better things than mere 
existence. Of course, this influence is apparent in its 
effects through only a limited part of the island. Ceylon, 
it must be remembered, is a small continent in extent, 
being nearly three hundred miles long and three-fourths as 
wide. But a portion of the country has felt the touch of 
civilization, and in the impenetrable jungles of the inte- 
rior the inhabitants continue to exist in the condition of 
primitive barbarism. These people are known as Veddas, 



196 WHAT I SAW, 

and by some authors are spoken of as a different race 
from the Cingalese. The native of whom I have spoken 
entertained us with much information and incidents typi- 
fying the lives of the people. In passing along he pointed 
to a range of hills that stretched across the distant land- 
scape, and told us the country there was infested with 
nearly every kind of wild animal and reptile known to 
the tropics. We were wholly willing to accept his state- 
ment without investigating the truth of it. 

One incident occurred during our ride which shows 
that the natives are not lacking in frankness, and wit as 
well. A boy of about sixteen entered the coach, and 
finding that he could talk some English, I engaged in 
conversation with him. He was filled with the ambition 
peculiar to boys the world over, and looked upon the 
future through glasses of the rosiest hue. He said he had 
already saved enough money to buy a little piece of land, 
and was now laying by a store to purchase him a wife. 
"Why," said I, "let me sell you mine." He looked 
quizzically for a moment at the robust partner of my joys 
and sorrows, and exclaimed, with all the apparent inno- 
cence imaginable: "No, I thank you! I have one mother." 
Just where the laugh came in I was not left in doubt by 
the other passengers. Mrs. Converse was seriously dis- 
gusted by the boy's evident lack of appreciation, but 
consoled herself with the philosophical reflection that he 
was only a heathen any way. 

All the way up the coast we met hundreds of bullock- 
carts, the animals being of the same variety as the sacred 
cow that I mentioned in a letter from Singapore, and also 
the same that the people of the States gaze upon with such 
awe beneath the tents of Barnum or some other caterer to 
the public desire for humbuggery. The only difference I 
can see is, that these beasts of burden in Ceylon are all 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 197 

males. They are a prime necessity to the natives, as they 
do not suffer from the heat, and can draw a heavily 
loaded cart twenty miles a day. A smaller variety are 
hitched in shafts, and will travel much faster. These 
latter are pleasure vehicles, and some of them are gor- 
geous in their finish, exhibiting the universal fondness of 
the savages for bright colors and garish display. 

The stage ride was concluded at a distance of twenty- 
four miles from the objective point of our journey, and we 
entered the cars for the short run to Colombo. It was 
our first view of a railroad since leaving Japan, and we 
felt like greeting the train as an old and half-forgotten 
friend. A railroad ride in the tropics presents features of 
attractivenes that are not elsewhere found. The novelty 
of rattling through palm groves, interspersed with coffee, 
nutmeg, and indigo plantations, is one that leads the 
traveler through channels of thought differing from the 
experiences of home, and causes him to express renewed 
wonderment at the stupendous enterprise of man when led 
forward by the demands of civilization and commerce. 

Colombo is the modern capital of Ceylon and the seat 
of government. The town, within the walls, is regularly 
laid out in European style with one-storied houses, faced 
with verandas. It possesses some fine public buildings, 
and is, upon the whole, a handsome and flourishing place 
of perhaps fifty thousand inhabitants. It labors under the 
disadvantage of an inferior harbor, not being accessible to 
vessels of the heaviest tonnage. It is said to be very 
healthy, but the water supply is limited. Outside the 
walls the appearance of the city does not differ greatly 
from the suburban parts of other tropical towns. The 
huts of the natives are grouped together in a fantastical 
disregard for symmetry, and it is difficult to determine 
just where the town ends and the country begins. "We 



198 WHAT I SAW, 

only remained one day, during which we were quartered 
at the British-India Hotel, and were much annoyed, as 
usual, by the native peddlers. In this case, however, they 
were mainly women, who offered for sale their own manu- 
facture of lace and edgings. I learned nothing of the 
process of manufacture, but the product evinces a skill of 
which civilization would not be ashamed. 

During our stay at Colombo we visited a neighboring 
village occupied exclusively by a distinct caste of Hindoos. 
They are very black, with long, straight hair and rather 
regular features. Most of the adults wear heavy gold orna- 
ments pendent from each side of the nose. The children, 
in full dress, are clothed in a belt around the waist, from 
which hangs a plate, perhaps four inches square, fulfilling 
the same purpose as the fig-leaf aprons devised by our fore- 
parents in the Garden of Eden. They are a curious 
people, very reticent and exclusive in their habits, min- 
gling but little with either the natives or the Europeans. 

Our guide took us to a temple, and he was evidently 
proud of the privilege of showing it, but we were dis- 
gusted. The miserable structure would not make a fit 
stable for the temples of Japan. The guide was exceed- 
ingly anxious to have us extend our trip six miles further, 
where he promised our thirst for attractive novelties should 
be thoroughly satisfied. But his intentions were too trans- 
parent, and we declined thus to minister to his desire to 
collect an extra and exorbitant fee. There is an inde- 
finable something about the occupation of guide and driver, 
the world over, from the pertinacious hackman of New 
York to the meek-eyed chief engineer of a Ceylon bullock 
cart, that makes them inseparable from the most unblush- 
ing rascality. In the language of the venerable S. J. 
Tilden, " reform is needed." We instituted the necessary 
reformation on our Cingalese guide by telling him as 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 199 

plainly as the English language would permit that his 
scheme wouldn't work, and that he would consult the 
safety of his shiny hide by returning us at once to the 
hotel. With many protestations and wordy demurrers, he 
complied, assuring us that we had sacrificed the grandest 
opportunity of our lives. Perhaps we did, but we have 
the satisfaction of knowing that he mourned most over the 
loss of an extra fee. 

Colombo is the great coffee mart of the island, and 
during our brief stay we saw perhaps not less than two 
thousand bullock carts arrive from the interior with loads 
of the berry. 

The following morning, at an early hour, when the 
residents of Ohio were preparing to rest their Aveary heads 
upon their pillows, and court the drowsy god, we entered 
the train for Kandy, a distance of seventy-five miles over 
the mountains. The road is a marvel of civil engineering, 
rising in many places as much as one hundred and six feet 
to the mile. For a short distance before striking the 
mountains, the road skirts the sea-shore, where we saw 
multidudes of the water-buffalo, a curious animal, of a 
dark blue color, with long horns resting upon the shoulders 
and back. They are about the size of an ordinary ox, 
and would weigh perhaps fifteen hundred to eighteen hun- 
dred pounds. 

The town of Kandy, or Candy, is located in the in- 
terior of the island, and surrounded by hills and mountains, 
varying in height from two hundred to two thousand feet. 
The town stands upon the border of an artificial lake, and 
at a distance of perhaps three miles is the river Mahavilly 
Ganga, a mountain stream, which at this point is navigable 
only for small boats. The population is about three thou- 
sand. Kandy is one of the places occupied by the British 
in 1815, when they "possessed" the entire island. The 



200 WHAT I SAW, 

impression made upon the visitor is one of wonderment — 
speculation upon what ever induced any body to build a 
town there. It has no trade except that which conies to 
it as a kind of preliminary depot for the products of the 
country, preparatory to the transportation to the coast. 
The town is situated about fourteen hundred feet above 
the level of the sea, in the midst of as fine scenery as can 
be found in the tropics. It has but one " natural produc- 
tion/' and that is Buddhist temples. No wealthy resident's 
house is considered complete without one, and they are 
filled with the usual variety of gods — big gods and little 
gods, old gods and young gods, black gods and white gods, 
and gods of every conceivable color, size, and shape ; in 
fact, the only variety of gods which we failed to see Avas a 
handsome god. It is strange, to us at least, why, if these 
unregenerate heathen must worship inanimate representa- 
tions, they do not, occasionally at least, select something 
that is handsome. Without exception, the titular deities 
of the Buddhists are hideous caricatures, calculated to 
frighten all the faith out of the beholder. 

We stopped at the Queen's Hotel, and, after dining, 
procured a carriage for a drive through the town and 
vicinity. We went out eight or ten miles, over, around, 
and under the hills, and past coffee and cocoa plantations 
almost without number. We could not but respect the 
taste of Case, the Sandusky embezzler, who sought refuge 
for himself and companion in this earthly elysium. There 
certainly is not a spot upon earth combining more of the 
beautiful in nature than the little town of Kandy. Shut 
out from the bewildering hurly-burly of the busy world, 
surrounded by every thing that makes life a pleasure, ex- 
istence is but a pleasant dream. We could not but envy 
the luxurious ease and comforting absence of care among 
the residents. 



AND HO W J SA W IT. 201 

In Kandy we saw women at work cleaning the streets, 
in very unbecoming undress, but wearing heavy gold jew- 
elry, bracelets encircling the arms and legs, rings covering 
the toes and fingers, and ornaments of the same precious 
metal pendent from their ears and noses. The value of 
the jewelry worn by each could not have been less than 
several hundred dollars. The feminine taste for jewelry 
seems to be world-wide, and nowhere is it indulged in 
more recklessly than by the barbarians of the tropics. 

Of course, we had to visit the temples, but we confined 
our attention to one in particular, a heterogeneous pile 
which contains the very sacred tooth of the venerated 
Buddha. It is a large stone building, with a dome-shaped 
roof. In this dome is a smaller one, some six feet high 
and about four in diameter. This latter is of pure gold, 
and contains, it is said, the venerated molar of the great 
Buddha. We endeavored to get a look at the tooth, but 
could not prevail upon the attendant to exhibit it, he ex- 
cusing himself by saying that the country would be del- 
uged with rain if our profane eyes were allowed to rest 
upon the sacred relic. It would seem that the venerated 
head of the Church must have been displeased with our 
visit, as when w T e emerged from the temple the rain was 
pouring down in sheets of dampness. In front of the 
temple is the artificial lake before spoken of. It covers 
an area of about fifty acres, and upon a small island in 
the center is a prison where the ancient kings incarcerated 
their wives when they became obstreperous, or for any 
other reason they wearied of their presence. Tradition 
says that the lake was utilized by the kings mainly as a 
convenience for strangling their wives, or any other sub- 
ject who incurred their royal displeasure. 

During our stay in Kandy the natives indulged in a 
festival of some kind, the exact nature or purport of 



202 WHAT I SAW, 

which we were unable to learn. It possessed all the fea- 
tures of hideous noise that usually attend the festivals of 
the barbarians. The streets were filled with naked na- 
tives, hideously painted, who marched and countermarched 
to the discordant music of native drums and the scarcely 
less nerve-torturing sounds of their own voices. They 
were divided into several parties, led each by one who was 
denominated "The Tiger." When these parties encoun- 
tered each other they followed the example of more civil- 
ized people, and fought like devils or volunteer firemen. 

The tombs of the ancient kings are located at Kandy, 
this having been the capital of the kingdom. They are 
sepulchered beneath a stone canopy-like structure, some 
fifty feet high and thirty in diameter. There is nothing 
particularly attractive about the mausoleum, but I suppose 
that under the protection of that tooth of the great 
Buddha they rest content. 

Occasionally some incident occurs in our travels that 
reminds us forcibly of home. At Kandy our ears were 
greeted with the soul-stirring music of " Yankee Doodle," 
rendered upon a piano, and upon a sign-board we read, 
"Coats' Spool Thread" and "Windsor Soap." The uni- 
versal Yankee has penetrated the jungles of Ceylon and 
established a trade for his wares in the very shadow of the 
tooth of Buddha. 

Elsewhere I have spoken of the hotels of Ceylon and 
praised their good qualities. Well, the hostelry at Point 
de Galle is an excellent hotel, and those at Colombo and 
Kandy good of their kind, but unfortunately the variety is 
not of the most choice. The landlords are the most un- 
blushing scoundrels outside of Washington City. Knavery 
with them is reduced to a science that would put to shame 
a mail route expediter. If the traveler hopes or expects to 
escape extortion he must prepare a written contract, as 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 203 

elaborate as a warranty deed, and as binding as a cognovit 
note, and even then the chances are that he will be vic- 
timized. If a Christian can settle a hotel bill in Colombo 
or Kandy without sacrificing some of his meek and lowly 
spirit he has explored a depth of humility which I have 
never reached. I have a valuable assistant on such occa- 
sions in my versatile companion. In fact, she does most 
of the vigorous negotiations, and I sit back in mute 
admiration while she lays down the law to the heathen. 
The voluble determination of Mrs. C. does much to bring 
about an adjustment, and the landlord succumbs as grace- 
fully as possible. 

On Saturday we left Kandy by rail, and spent Sunday 
at the little village of Kalatura, on the sea-shore, prepara- 
tory to resuming the stage for Point de Galle. We 
stopped at what is known in tropical parlance as a "rest 
house." Fancy a small one-story building, in the midst 
of a dense palm grove, with a tile roof and floor, open 
sides, the bedsteads with "teeters," covered with netting, 
and you have an idea of our surroundings on that beautiful 
Sunday morning. Songsters of the most brilliant plumage 
and finest voices filled the trees; the native attendants 
lolled about in the complete abandon of unrestrained 
laziness, and again we felt that it was good to be alive. 
We were interested listeners to the stories told by a party 
of elephant hunters who had just returned from a chase in 
the interior, a distance of some eighty miles. They were 
apparently disappointed in not having secured but nine. 

We saw several specimens of the Vedda tribes that 
inhabit the interior of the island. They are remarkable 
for "their fine physical development, the women in this 
regard being scarcely inferior to the sterner sex. They 
are coal black, with skins as smooth and glistening as 
polished ebony. They are said to be peaceful, unless 



204 WHAT 1 SAW, 

aroused by oppression, when they become a terror to their 
enemies. While nominally under the control of the local 
British Government, they are practically independent, hav- 
ing their own tribal governments, and intent only upon 
securing the greatest pleasure from existence in a land 
where their opportunities are unlimited. 

One of the sights of Ceylon, and at the same time one, 
of its curses, is the white ants. These tiny creatures build 
their nests on the surface of the earth, rising sometimes to 
the height of six or eight feet. There is absolutly nothing 
which they will not eat through except stone, metal, or 
glass. They are the pest of the natives, and the annoy- 
ance is one that can not readily be overcome. They pene- 
trate everywhere, and nothing is safe from their ravages. 

I have spoken elsewhere of the natural distaste of the 
natives for physical or mental exertion. There is an ex- 
ception to this rule in the universal thirst for gold, not, 
however, as with us, for purposes of exchange, but for 
ornament. A native Cingalese will scheme, steal, and even 
work for gold with which to ornament the different parts 
of his anatomy. The metal is found here, though not in 
lavish abundance. Some writers claim that Ceylon was 
the place to which vessels were dispatched to procure gold 
and precious stones for the Temple of Solomon at Jeru- 
salem. It may be so, but if any one were to ask me 
whether it is, I would be compelled to admit that I do n't 
know. There are many precious stones, of great variety, 
to be found in Ceylon, but my impression is that they are 
largely of an inferior quality. 

In going back to Galle we passed over the same road 
traveled in going up, and found in every mile new beau- 
ties that had been overlooked. 

After mature consideration, and after seeing much of 
the island, its people and their manner of living, I am 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 205 

constrained to say that I would not live here the balance 
of my days for all the wealth of India. In tropical lux- 
uriance and the munificence of bountiful nature, Ceylon 
is unsurpassed. The trouble is, nature has done too 
much — rather overdid the thing, as it were. Notwith- 
standing the luxurious ease of the people, there is too 
much activity in the island to suit me. The mosquitoes 
will eat you up, the ants will build winter-quarters in 
your flesh and destroy your clothing, the deadly cobra 
will make itself entirely too numerous, the lizards will 
share your couch at night, and if you escape these agen- 
cies, you will be tortured by peddlers and beggars until 
death will be looked upon as a kind surcease from trouble. 
Looking through your chamber, shaking the bedclothes, 
etc., in the search for snakes and other disagreeable in- 
truders is a nightly duty which must not be neglected. 
Such investigations, unlike the search of the women who 
always look for a man under the bed before retiring, is 
usually productive of results. 

Our trip through the island has cost about one hun- 
dred dollars, and we consider the investment a judicious 
one. The sights, the scenery, the experiences have im- 
pressed themselves indelibly upon our minds, and in after 
years will provide food for the pleasantest reflections. 

As to Christianity, all the real good the teachings of 
the missionaries do is purely commercial. In China it 
costs thirty thousand dollars to save one soul, a Chinese 
soul at that, and it may be a question whether the im- 
mortal part of a Chinaman would not be dear at a thou- 
sandth part of the money. In Ceylon, salvation is not so 
costly, but still I am inclined to the opinion that the in- 
vestment does not pay a heavy rate of interest. The 
native will hasten to the missionary, and renounce Bud- 
dha if his family is sick and needs care and attention, 



206 WHAT I SAW, 

but as soon as they recover and require no further assist- 
ance he will return to his idols. Good is done in that 
the missions educate the heathen, but religion among 
the barbarians is wholly a matter of trade. They seem 
to keep a variety of religions in reserve, which they can 
put on and take off like garments, as the occasion may 
demand. An enlightened citizen of Europe or the States 
who will come here and live among the natives, making 
him or herself one of them, suffering all the inconveni- 
ences of life in the tropics, should have great confidence 
in a reward in the hereafter. They will never get it on 
earth. Take the average barbarian, like the Chinaman, 
and an effort to save him from the middle of the bottom- 
less pit of perdition is flying squarely in the face of a 
just Providence. 

So far, we have enjoyed the best of health and spirits. 
We find one cause of complaint, however, in the neglect 
of our friends at home. We are now nearly one hundred 
days out, and not a line or a paper have we received. We 
have not heard a word from America, even indirectly, as 
the newspapers here ignore its existence. 

We sail hence to-morrow for Calcutta, from which 
point my next will be dated. 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 207 



XVIII. 

Ceylon to Calcutta — A Novel but Luxurious Bath — Madras 
and the Native Hindoos — The Immorality op Foreigners in 
the Orient — One Eeason why the Christian Missions are 
not more Successful — The Mouths of the Ganges — Arrival 
at Calcutta. 

Calcutta, India, Dccetnber 20, 1881. 

In one regard the Orient does not differ from other 
parts of the world. I refer to the penchant of steamers 
and other popular modes of conveyance for disregarding 
their advertised time. For instance, we completed our 
preparations for sailing from Galle on the 7th, but were 
detained until the 9th. Point de Galle is the place where 
steamers from all parts of the world concentrate, and it 
thus becomes a distributing point for passengers. Our de- 
lay was occasioned by the non-arrival of three steamers, 
one from China, one from Australia, and one from Eng- 
land, from each of which we secured a number of passen- 
gers for Madras and Calcutta. The delay was relieved, 
however, of its tediousness by a pleasant acquaintance 
which we formed in the person of Louis T. Leonourus, an 
officer in the military service of the king of Siam, and 
an intimate friend of the Siamese potentate, having been 
his companion in boyhood and his " chum " at school. 
From Mr. L. we learned much of Siam and its people. 
We were led through his vivid pictures of the country 
and customs to regret that our programme did not include 
a visit to that nation. The kingdom of Siam is one not 
usually visited by tourists, although I am informed that it 



208 WHAT I SAW, 

is by no means deficient in attractions. The government 
and the people are kindly disposed toward foreigners, and 
are eager to adopt the manners, modes, and ideas of more 
advanced nations. The king is said to be a thorough 
English scholar, imbued with a progressiveness which 
promises much for the future of his country. 

I accepted while at Galle the invitation of Mr. Leon- 
ourus to accompany him to a native bath-house, and in- 
dulge in the luxury of a purely Oriental bath. The dis- 
tance was but a feAv steps from the walls of the city, and 
we found the bath house located in the midst of a cocoa- 
nut grove. Entering, we found several girls in waiting. 
Just think of that, ye modest and coy Americans ! Beau- 
tiful maidens as attendants in a gentleman's bath ! My 
first feelings were of well-defined diffidence, but finally I 
reached a conclusion similar to that arrived at in the pres- 
ence of the disrobing Japanese woman — I could stand it 
if they could. Modesty is, after all, a matter largely of 
education, and it may not be necessary for me to say that 
in that regard the education of the Cingalese has been 
sadly neglected. The bather, however, does not appear in 
the bath entirely in the purity of nature. He is provided 
with a square piece of muslin, which is utilized in a man- 
ner best understood by the mothers of small children. 
Otherwise the body has no covering. Stepping from the 
dressing-room into the bath, you are taken in charge by a 
couple of young women, who, with little ceremony, apply 
finely scented soap to your body, followed by an application 
of highly perfumed cosmetics. Then their deft and shapely 
hands pour water over you, washing you as thoroughly 
as a mother would an infant. After an hour of washing, 
drying, and perfuming, you are returned to your dressing- 
room, thoroughly rejuvenated in body, though perhaps a 
little demoralized and bewildered in mind. I could not 



AND HO W ISAW IT. 209 

help but congratulate myself that our vessel had been de- 
layed. The luxury of a bath in Ceylon is ample recom- 
pense for any ordinary delay. 

On the 9th we were summoned on board our steamer, 
the Pekin, and soon were steaming from the harbor, bid- 
ding farewell to the beautiful island, its pleasant scenes, 
beautiful drives, and that delicious sense of rest which is 
nowhere so thoroughly enjoyed as in the spicy groves of 
Ceylon. Barrin' the heat, the snakes, the mosquitoes, the 
rascally landlords, add a few minor inconveniences, life 
among the Cingalese would be a continuous dream of 
luxury. 

We passed up the eastern shore of Ceylon, in sight of 
land, until, when we had left the north-east point of the 
island, the southern point of South-eastern India appeared 
in view, bearing a few points to the larboard. 

In steaming up the coast of India to Madras and Cal- 
cutta we passed the port of Pondicherry, one of the rem- 
nants of French rule in the East. No stoppage was made, 
as the town is of no great commercial importance. It is 
situated on a flat sandy plain, near the sea, is regularly 
laid out, and is the center of a considerable trade with 
other points on the Coromandel coast, and also with the 
local ports of the East. 

We arrived at Madras on the 12th, and anchored about 
two miles from the shore. Madras has absolutely no har- 
bor whatever, and there is said to be no other place in the 
world where the surf beats with such violence upon the 
sandy beach. A few days before our arrival the granite 
breakwater had been swept away by a typhoon, and a ship 
lay on the bottom, in our vicinity, with her masts project- 
ing above the surface — a warning to sailors of a fate that 
frequently befalls vessels in that vicinity. Travelers have- 
told of the tremendous surf at Madras, but no words can 

14 



210 WHAT I SAW, 

give an adequate idea of the height and vicious force 
of the waves which continually beat upon the shore. We 
were so thoroughly discouraged by the outlook that all 
idea of going ashore was dismissed. The prospect of fur- 
nishing a perhaps unpalatable lunch for the fishes of the 
Sea of Bengal was just a little too brilliant. Consequently, 
we amused ourselves during the stay by the scenes j)re- 
sented in our immediate surroundings. One of the most 
amusing of these was caused by the efforts of the jmssen- 
gers to transfer themselves from the steamer to the small 
boat by which they were transported to the shore. As 
they passed down the ladder from the vessel the boat 
would recede, only to come sweeping forward again, and 
the would-be voyager must watch his chance or his efforts 
will result in a salt water bath. It reminded me of the 
inebriated individual who sought to retire to his couch, 
but was bewildered by the persistency of the bed in avoid- 
ing his approach, and finally had to carefully calculate and 
wait until it came round, and jump for it. 

Our vessel was surrounded by a myriad of native 
boats, who eagerly sought for passengers or freight to 
transfer to the shore. Each boat is rowed by ten natives, 
and the officers of our vessel had great difficulty in keeping 
them from coming on board. They swarmed over the 
sides like rats, and the quartermaster was kept busy driv- 
ing them back. For this purpose he was armed with a 
vicious-looking whip, and he applied it to their most ex- 
posed parts without mercy. The sight of the officer skip- 
ping from point to point, driving the poor devils back, 
and their activity in climbing again to the deck as soon as 
his back was turned, was very amusing. They can climb 
like cats and swim equal to a fish. The voices of the 
thousands in the boats surrounding our vessel produced a 
veritable pandemonium, each boatman vociferating at the 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 211 

top of his voice, and wildly gesticulating, but for what 
purpose was a mystery. The boats are about eighteen 
feet long, five wide, and six deep, and are constructed of 
bamboo withes, instead of spikes and nails, to prevent 
leakage, and of materials so light that no amount of water 
will cause them to sink. The danger of passing through 
the surf is solely in the boat overturning, and so expert 
are the natives that jeopardy from this is reduced to the 
lowest possible point. With the writer, however, such 
things are different. I am a firm believer in that first law 
of nature, self-preservation. So firmly is the theory im- 
planted in my mental composition that I turn with instinc- 
tive dismay from danger of any kind. I may not be 
really any more afraid than other people, but the antici- 
pation of accident is to me worse than encountering it, 
just as some persons in passing along an icy street suffer 
ten times more from the fear of falling than they would 
by really going down. 

The city of Madras, as viewed from our anchorage, 
had more the appearance of an European or American 
city than any we have seen. It stretches for several miles 
along the beach, and contains numerous structures of fine 
appearance. Large gardens or parks appear at intervals, 
and provide the shade that in this tropical climate is an 
absolute necessity. A visit to the city would doubtless 
have added much to the pleasures of our tour. The terri- 
tory in which Madras is situated was the first acquisition 
made by the British on the continent of India, being 
obtained by a grant in 1639. The fort then established 
was besieged first in 1702, and again by the French in 
1744, to whom it was surrendered after a bombardment 
of three days. Afterward it was restored to the English, 
and was again besieged by the French in 1758-9. The 
population is estimated at four hundred thousand. 



212 WHAT I SAW, 

We left Madras at 3 o'clock on the afternoon of the 
second day, and once more our steamer was headed for 
Calcutta, eight hundred and seventy miles distant, after 
taking on board a number of passengers and a large 
amount of indigo and cotton, the latter seemingly of poor 
quality. Some one brought on board a paper of Decem- 
ber 14th, from which we learned that Postmaster-general 
James had resigned. This little scrap of unimportant 
information was welcomed with enthusiasm as being the 
first we had received since the 20th day of September, on 
which date we sailed from San Francisco. We had almost 
concluded that some violent agitation of mundane affairs 
had lopped off the other hemisphere and that America 
had ceased to exist as a part of this planet. This little 
newspaper, which Avandered into our hands on board a 
steamer in the Sea of Bengal, gave us a welcome assurance 
that other Americans besides ourselves continued to live. 
I hope none of my readers will ever experience the ex- 
treme anxiety that results from three months of complete 
isolation from home, particularly at a time when they 
know that stirring events are in progress. 

The good fortune which has ever attended us in our 
travels continued through the often tempestuous Sea of 
Bengal. The water was as smooth as a mirror, and at 
night the stars shone with a brilliancy unknown outside 
the tropics. They seem to stand out from the firmament, 
and glitter and twinkle through the pure atmosphere like 
celestial lamps. The "Southern Cross" is visible about 
4 o'clock in the morning, but it would have required a 
much more interesting view than it provides to arouse us 
from our slumbers at an hour when sleep is the sweetest. 
The routine on shipboard became a little monotonous. 
We had coffee brought to our room before we rose, break- 
fast at 9, lunch at 1, dinner at 6, and tea at 9. On the 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 213 

table we had American ham and butter. This is no 
exception to the rule throughout the East, as these two 
articles of American production are in universal demand. 
Who knows but in our wanderings in the Orient we have 
unconsciously aided in consuming the product of a pon- 
derous Ohio porker? We have frequently found pleasure 
in the conceit, and fancied that the flavor of Buckeye corn 
could be distinguished in the meat. We do not plead 
guilty to the charge of homesickness, but still our thoughts 
will wander back over the thousands of miles and linger 
fondly with the friends and familiar scenes of home. 

In one of my letters, perhaps that written during the 
voyage from Hong Kong to Singapore, I had occasion to 
speak of the disagreeable traits that distinguish English 
officials, and their universal indulgence in practices that 
in America would exclude them from good society. On 
the trip from Galle to this place our passenger list was 
composed largely of English attaches of the British Gov- 
ernment of India. Bluster, brag, and ignorance are in- 
separable from these official barnacles, and they omit no 
opportunity to exhibit their peculiarities in these regards. 
It is, however, their extreme immorality and disgusting 
personal habits that give decent people the greatest dis- 
taste for their companionship. The licentious habits of 
the foreigners, particularly the English, is a burning dis- 
grace throughout the East. So universal is this species of 
debauchery that the half-breed children compose a limited 
per cent of the population. There is no surmise, no ex- 
aggeration about this. I mean just what I say, and speak 
from observation. Some of the ministers of the English 
Church whom we met on shipboard are a disgrace to the 
name, and a sad reflection upon the Christian Church. 
This, of course, does not include all, as there are excep- 
tions to all general rules. We had on board the vessel 



214 WHAT 1 SAW, 

from Hong Kong to Ceylon a solemn-visaged parson, who, 
bedecked with surplice and all the other paraphernalia of 
his profession, conducted religious services with much 
unction ; yet in one hour after that " holy man of God " 
was beastly drunk, reeling through the cabin and disgust- 
ing every decent person on board with his maudlin con- 
duct. In a conversation afterward I told him in plain 
language that we in America would not tolerate such 
actions. He expressed surprise, and seemed to think he 
had been guilty of nothing inconsistent with his position 
as a minister. I can not see how the missionaries can 
accomplish much good among the natives when such im- 
morality as that I have spoken of is persistently flaunted 
before them. If the Christian religion is to progress and 
secure a firm footing among the people of the Orient it 
must present some practical, tangible good — exhibit a 
better rule of life and the good flowing from it. There is 
little to hope for so long as the teachings of the mission- 
aries are met by practices on the part of those to whom 
the natives naturally look for an exemplification of its 
beneficence that would disgrace the harem of a Fiji 
Islander. Do not understand me as speaking of the mis- 
sionaries. I believe that, as an almost universal rule, they 
are faithful and conscientious workers, who aim to teach 
by example as well as precept. I speak of the masses of 
the foreigners whom business has drawn to the Orient, and 
particularly of the British officials, not even excepting my 
own countrymen. Drunkenness and debauchery among 
these is the rule, and sobriety and virtue the exception 
among the male portion. They need missionaries more 
than the natives. Speaking of the ministers of the En- 
glish Church, I have not seen many in the East for whose 
religion I would give a pinch of stale snuff. In all the 
English churches that we have seen in our travels, there 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 215 

is much more attention paid to the mummery of the ritual 
than to the practical features of religion, and other evi- 
dences given that their pretenses are more conspicuous 
than their practices. 

I have not the least doubt that some of my good 
friends will take serious issue with me on the points I 
have named, but I beg them to remember that I am here, 
and daily receive occular evidence of the truth of what I 
have been saying. It may be that I am too frank and 
outspoken regarding these evils, but I speak of them as 
they are. For the existence of the pernicious practices, 
the people are at fault, but I would be to blame if I 
sought to hide their offenses when seclusion would but 
encourage them, or to excuse their shortcomings when ex- 
cuses can not legitimately be found. 

On the 18th we entered the mouth of the Hoogly, 
about one hundred miles below Calcutta, which at its 
entrance is so wide that the shores can not be seen. The 
Hoogly is one of the numerous outlets of the great Gan- 
ges. The Ganges, a.t a distance of perhaps two hundred 
miles from the bay, divides into innumerable streams, 
which reach the sea by different channels. Of these the 
Hoogly is the most western and the largest. The princi- 
pal outlet is about two hundred miles east of the Hoogly, 
and retains the name of the Ganges. The passage up to 
Calcutta by large steamers must be made upon the flood 
tide, which, much to my surprise, runs at the rate of about 
two miles an hour. In the typhoon season the river is 
said to be extremely dangerous. Even under ordinary 
circumstances the least mistake on the part of the pilot 
would result in the loss of a vessel. The appearance was 
to me not unlike the Mississippi below New Orleans. 
After a few miles low shores appeared on either hand. 
These are subject at all seasons to complete inundation, 



216 WHAT I SA W, 

and for this reason have never been cultivated. It would 
be difficult to conceive any thing more desolate than these 
wastes of jungle and accumulated debris which stretch for 
miles on either shore. They are strewn with the bodies 
of animals, and often of humans, which are left undis- 
turbed to rot in the burning sun or be carried out to sea 
by the next inundation. The channel changes by the 
shifting alluvia almost weekly, and the pilot must know 
by the appearance of the water where the vessel can pass 
with safety. They receive a princely compensation, being 
paid ten thousand dollars each per year. Before reaching 
Calcutta, the river shrinks to the width of the Missis- 
sippi, and the barren shores give way to the most luxuri- 
ant vegetation. 

The decrease in the temperature is very noticeable 
when compared with Ceylon. On the morning after our 
arrival, the mercury was down to sixty-five degrees, with 
a cool, bracing breeze that is very suggestive of comfort. 
The sun now rises several degrees to the south of us, and 
we begin to realize that we have left the equator, with its 
extreme and enervating heat, behind. Some writers speak 
of the extreme torridity of Calcutta, but we have ex- 
perienced none of it so far. We almost fail to remember, 
however, that it is now midwinter. I suppose, therefore, 
that the heat here six months hence must be intense. At 
2 o'clock in the afternoon we set foot upon the soil of 
India in the great city of Calcutta. As I have an oppor- 
tunity to mail this letter to-day, I must defer my impres- 
sions of the city, its people, and appearance until my next. 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 217 



XIX. 

In the Indian Metropolis — The Impression op England upon its 
Architecture — Visit to the Botanical and Zoological Gar- 
dens — The Native City — Palace op the King of Oude — The 
Temples — Caste — A Pleasant Evening. 

Calcutta, India, December 21, 1881. 

Our first impression of this metropolis of the East 
Indies was one of disappointment. From the hour when 
I, as a boy, conned with open-eyed wonder the florid 
descriptions of travels in the East Indies, I have been led 
to look upon Calcutta, "The City of Palaces," as the one 
spot where the beautiful in nature and the magnificent in 
art harmoniously blended. The government buildings in 
Calcutta are substantial, numerous, and extensive, but the 
style of architecture lacks that grandeur which would 
satisfy the eye and sustain its reputation for beauty. The 
dwellings of the foreign representatives have no preten- 
tious display of either architectural taste or skill ; they 
present a curious and somewhat incongruous combination 
of English solidity and Oriental ornamentation. There is 
that peculiarity about our British cousins which no extent 
of residence abroad can disturb in the slightest degree. It 
is best expressed by the word "solid." This is carried 
into every condition and amidst all surroundings. It is 
exhibited in the boots they wear, in the food they eat, the 
machinery they construct, and the houses they build. 
Beauty, convenience, and often utility, are sacrificed to the 
universal idea of solidity, as if they were engaged in a 



218 WHAT I SAW, 

constant contest with the elements of destruction. The 
result is the production of conveniences and necessaries 
that are cumbersome, and, as we Yankees would say, 
" unhandy." There is a variety in the architecture of the 
native dwellings that certainly relieves them from any 
appearance of monotony. The palatial houses of the 
wealthy Baboos are models of light and airy but stately 
beauty. There is between these and the miserable huts 
of the lower caste of natives a hiatus that becomes notice- 
able at a glance. In India there does not seem to be any 
middle classes. All are either immensely rich or miserably 
poor. There has been adopted by the government and 
the wealthier classes a kind of stucco in the ornamentation 
of buildings that, however beautiful it may be when first 
completed, turns in time to a dingy yellow, suggestive of 
uncleanness. 

The appearance of the city on approaching by the river 
is very fine, but, like many others, a closer inspection brings 
to light some points that mar its symmetrical beauty. I do 
not wish to be understood as descrying the recognized 
attractiveness of the East Indian metropolis when I say 
that it does not wholly meet the ideal which I had formed. 
It stretches along the river about seven miles, and has an 
average width of about two miles and a half. The quay 
is handsome and substantial in appearance, extending for 
perhaps three miles along the front of the city, and is pro- 
vided with twenty-five or thirty landing-places, or " ghauts," 
as they are called here. The river is over a mile in width, 
and is at all times filled with shipping from every part 
of the world. The suburbs are disfigured by countless 
numbers of extensive brick-yards. In response to an ex- 
pression of wonderment regarding the disposition made 
of such a vast quantity of material, I was told that sand 
for building purposes was very difficult to obtain, and that 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 219 

the bricks were pulverized after being burned, to provide 
this very necessary commodity. Here, as elsewhere in the 
Orient, the European population is confined to certain 
parts of the city, the foreign section being on the east side 
of the Hoogly, and the native city on the west — the two 
being connected by the finest pontoon bridge in the world. 
In Calcutta, however, such isolation is voluntary, and not, 
as in Chinese and Japanese cities, the result of govern- 
mental decree. 

Our first ex|>erience of sight-seeing in Calcutta was a 
visit to the Botanical Gardens, a pleasant drive of about 
six miles. It would be useless for me to attempt a de- 
scription of this beautiful spot, where art has vied with 
nature in the production and display of floral beauties. 
The strangest and most attractive sight was the celebrated 
banyan tree, and an hour was pleasantly and profitably 
devoted to an examination of it. Every schoolboy has 
read of the peculiar tree, and wonderingly studied every 
detail of the engraving which embellished his geography. 
In this instance the reality exceeds previous impressions. 
This particular tree is quite large at the main stem, and 
although not to exceed fifty feet in height, it covers an 
area of fully an acre and a half, and can protect with its 
shade not less than two thousand people. About thirty 
feet from the ground it sends out long lateral branches. 
From these, branches extend downward and take root 
in the earth, growing until in this tree they form trunks 
fully two feet in diameter. This is continued without 
limit, the perpendicular branches growing smaller as they 
approach the circumference, until the last, just taking root 
in the soil, is no thicker than a pipe-stem. To a person 
standing beneath its shade the tree has the appearance of 
a grove, or a hall where the roof is supported by nu- 
merous columns. 



220 WHAT I SAW, 

In going to and returning from the Botanical Gardens 
we passed through the native part of the city, where were 
seen thousands of the Simon-pure Hindoos of all the dif- 
ferent castes. All are nearly black in skin, and of a sim- 
ilar somberness in habits. One feeling is universal among 
natives of every caste. All despise the English, with a most 
unholy hatred. Even the educated classes, who have grown 
wealthy through generations of successful trade with foreign- 
ers, keep hidden away in the recesses of their hearts a spark 
of treachery, which a breath of hope for success would 
kindle into a flame of attempted revolution. This can only 
be accounted for by the inherent savagery of the Hindoo 
nature — a people with whom idolatry, superstition, and the 
worst varieties of fanaticism flourish with a luxuriance 
almost unknown elsewhere — a people who encourage, under 
the specious guise of an idolatrous religion, every species 
of outrage against nature. They complain that the En- 
glish are hard masters. That may be, to a limited extent, 
but they are not so burdensome as would be their own 
unrestrained penchant for brutality. The people who 
butchered the women and little children at Cawnpore and 
Futtehghur should be slow to criticize the necessary re- 
pressive measures of the government that brought to the 
country the first ray of enlightenment that ever penetrated 
the benighted land. English rule in India has proven to 
the natives and to the world an unalloyed blessing. 

Our visit was made to include the Zoological Gardens, 
which are said to be the most extensive and best supplied 
with the wonders of the animal kingdom in the world. 
They cover some ten acres, and are well shaded with trop- 
ical trees and plants. As may well be supposed, the va- 
riety of beasts, birds, and reptiles is infinite. The speci- 
mens of tropical animals are much finer than those seen 
in the States. We gazed with positive awe upon a mag- 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 221 

nificent specimen of the Bengal tiger, which seemed to be 
more than twice as large and ferocious as any we had be- 
fore seen. The chameleon, that wonderful variety of the 
genus lizard, which has the faculty of changing its color 
quicker than a postmaster can his politics, was one among 
the many curious reptiles seen. This quality is simply 
one of its means of defense, as when in danger it makes 
its color correspond to the grass, or rock, or earth, as the 
case may be, for the purpose of escaping observation. 
This, at least, is the opinion of some naturalists, though 
others assert that the changes are independent of any def- 
inite purpose, and beyond the control of the creature. The 
collection of elephants would turn Barnum or Forepaugh 
green with envy. None of their huge dimensions are 
ever seen in America. Now, some persons, more venture- 
some, I think, than wise, would have sought these animals 
in their native jungles, where the tigers, elephants, lions, 
and similar creatures render the experiences of visitors 
devoid of monotony. With me it was different. I was 
fully satisfied to study them where they were under the 
restraint of man. As a matter of fact, there is nothing 
which, according to my ideas, lends more enchantment to 
a bloodthirsty tiger or other similar beast than the iron 
bars which securely restrain his predisposition to mischief. 
It certainly is much more pleasant to visit the Zoological 
Gardens of Calcutta and study the animals collectively, 
beneath the umbrageous trees, than to seek them in detail, 
where they are found all too soon for the comfort or safety 
of the venturesome interloper. 

The means of conveyance in Calcutta are not as rapid 
or comfortable as in some cities we have been. Our car- 
riage was drawn by a couple of measly little ponies, which 
more than once I was tempted to place in my pocket and 
walk off with. I would readily exchange them for the 



222 WHAT I SAW, 

tireless coolies who, but a few weeks since, rattled us 
through the streets of Yeddo and Yokohama. 

We had a fine view of the palace of the king of 
Oude — from the outside, no one being permitted to enter 
except on one specified day in each year. This sprig of 
Indian royalty was deposed by the British after the sup- 
pression of the mutiny of 1857, and, retaining his high- 
sounding titles and retainers to the number of about one 
thousand, is compelled to live at Calcutta under the sur- 
veillance of the British. He has an elegant palace, located 
on the banks of the Hoogly, where he imitates, so far as 
his great wealth and pension of one hundred thousand dol- 
lars per year will permit, the magnificence of Oriental roy- 
alty. His residence, with the grounds surrounding, is a 
miniature kingdom, and here the deposed potentate plays 
king, surrounded by all the luxurious magnificence which 
money will procure. We would have liked much to inspect 
his palace, but of course were unable to do so. When next 
I make the circumnavigatory tour I want to be an ex- 
President or something else that will give me prestige 
among the people of the East, and serve as an open ses- 
ame to the many places of interest that are sedulously 
sealed against the uninfluential private citizen. 

The citadel of Calcutta, or, as it is better known, Fort 
William, is perhaps the largest and most complete fortifi- 
cation in the world, requiring no less than ten thousand 
men to fully garrison it. In company with a gentleman 
whose acquaintance we formed on shipboard, we visited 
the fortress, and spent a pleasant hour examining its many 
points of attraction. 

In India, as elsewhere in the East, gods are the princi- 
pal product. It has been estimated that in India there are 
no less than three hundred and forty million, or nearly two 
gods to every man, woman, and child in the country. 



AND HOW 1 SAW IT. 223 

Just in what manner this conclusion was reached I am 
unable to say. It is not likely that any one, even blessed 
with a phenomenal fondness for statistics, ever counted 
them. All that I know is that they are very abundant, 
and will compare favorably in hideousness with those of 
China and Japan. The temples of Calcutta are divided 
between the Buddhists and Brahmins, with a predomi- 
nance of the latter. From one of these, Khali Ghaut, by 
some process of etymological jugglery, the city derives its 
name. The temple is located in the midst of an inferior 
suburb, and is attractive mainly by contrast with its sur- 
roundings. There are really three structures, discon- 
nected, and with floors about eight feet above the level 
of the street. The principal edifice is a square building, 
surmounted by a dome, which extends beyond the walls 
and is supported by outside columns. It has no windows, 
and the light is admitted through small doors on three 
sides. Of the other two buildings, one is circular and the 
other oblong. The circular edifice is the hall of sacrifice, 
from Avhich all but Brahmin priests are rigidly excluded. 
The square building contains the shrine of the goddess 
Kali, and no profane feet are permitted to cross the thresh- 
old. The oblong building is devoted to the use of the 
worshipers, from which they pay their devotions to the 
divinity on the right hand, and witness the sacrifices on 
the left. Formerly, it is said, the sacrifices were human, 
but now they are confined to bullocks and goats. Kali is 
the Brahmin goddess of evil, from which is supposed to 
emanate all the trials, tribulations, and sufferings of the 
people. By those who have enjoyed the privilege of look- 
ing upon the figure it is described as being a combination 
of every thing that is hideous and outre. It is ot human 
proportions but scarcely of human shape. It is black, 
and has three immense, glaring red eyes, a broad golden 



224 WHA T I SA W, 

or brass tongue, tipped with black, which projects from a 
distended mouth down to the waist, and is dripping with 
blood. The arms are greatly exaggerated. The left hand 
holds the representation of a giant's head, while in the 
right is grasped the sword, covered with blood, with which 
the head is supposed to have been severed. 

In Calcutta there is a diversity of religion found, per- 
haps, nowhere on earth to an equal extent. While the 
Brahmin idolatry predominates, every theory of belief 
known to the civilized and uncivilized world exists. The 
followers of Buddha, Mahomet, Brahma, and Christ vie 
with each other in their devotions, and mingle daily and 
hourly in pleasant business communications, while the in- 
numerable devotees of minor isms follow undisturbed the 
bent of their inclinations. 

There is not that j)cacc and quietude to be found in 
Calcutta at night that is usually considered conducive to 
refreshing slumber. About midnight, after we had fallen 
into a profound sleep, we were suddenly aroused by a con- 
tinued succession of the most startling sounds which ear 
ever experienced. Cries almost human, mingled with 
short yelps and prolonged howls, and for a moment caused 
our hearts to throb violently with the apprehension that, 
perhaps, the wild animals of the Indian jungles had united 
in a raid upon humanity, and were determined to drive us 
from the country. Inquiry reassured us, however, and we 
found that the noises proceeded from the troops of jackals 
that roam undisturbed through the streets of the city at 
night, and make themselves useful by acting as scavengers. 
They are never molested, and in return never disturb the 
people or live domestic animals. At daylight they are suc- 
ceeded in their duties as scavengers by crows, kites, and 
adjutants. The crows and the kites are exceedingly noisy, 
and most inveterate thieves as well. They are not content 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 225 

with such offal as they may find in the streets, but will 
penetrate the houses, and carry off any thing of an edible 
character that they can reach. The adjutant is a species 
of stork, very dignified, standing for hours upon one foot, 
as silent and motionless as a statue. They are nearly as 
tall as a man, and are a feature of Calcutta that the trav- 
eler can not overlook, even if he desires to. They are to 
be met with every few steps in the suburbs, and are amus- 
ing in their solemn dignity. 

Bordering on the river below the Government House 
is the fashionable drive of Calcutta, and the scene there 
presented in the cool of the evening, is probably not 
equaled elsewhere on earth for novelty. The crowd which 
throngs the drive is thoroughly cosmopolitan, as are also 
the vehicles. Alongside the gay European turnout, with 
its liveried coachman and outriders, moves the unpretend- 
ing gharry or the native bullock cart. The scene is one 
of kaleidoscopic variety, such as can be seen, perhaps, 
only in India. 

The eastern part of the city is known as Chowringee, 
where are the residences of the European merchants and 
those connected with the civil or military service. The 
dwellings, while extensive and substantial, do not reach my 
conception of palaces, and I can not but think the term, 
when applied to the dwellings of the wealthy residents of 
Calcutta, is a ridiculous misnomer. The grounds are 
elegant, and kind nature is greatly assisted by careful and 
artistic cultivation. The dwellings are isolated, and their 
extensive and tasteful surroundings present features of rare 
attractiveness. 

The water supply of the city is drawn from immense 
tanks, some two hundred feet square, and sunk to a level 
with the ground. They are also used by the natives to 
wash their clothes in and as gigantic bath tubs. It may 

15 



226 WHAT I SAW, 

be that I am over-sensitive about such things, but after 
witnessing these operations I acquired a prejudice against 
the water in Calcutta. 

The manner of sprinkling the streets is one that might 
be called primitively Oriental. The waterman, instead of 
providing himself with a sprinkling cart, carries on his 
shoulder a goat skin filled with water, and distributes the 
aqueous fluid much as did an old-time farmer the grain in 
sowing. 

A strange fact I noticed among the European residents 
of India. Although the English possession of the country 
dates back about two hundred years, the visitor finds 
very few Europeans who were born in India, and a Euro- 
pean child whose parents were natives of India is a 
rarity. The reason of this is that but few European resi- 
dents come to this country with the intention of remaining 
permanently, and, although their sojourn may be extended 
into many years, they usually return to spend their latter 
days in Europe. All, or nearly all, the children of 
Europeans are sent home to be educated, and many of 
them never see India again. 

The devices for escaping the effects of the extreme heat 
are multifarious. In the hot season all the business is 
crowded into the early hours of the morning, and during 
the heat of the day but little activity is seen. An effective 
device is the punlca, to which Americans are not entire 
strangers. It is simply a large fan, or, if the room to be 
cooled is large enough, a series of fans, each suspended 
from the ceiling, and all connected by a cord, and swung 
back and forth by a coolie stationed in. the anteroom. 
The same means are adopted to agitate the stagnant atmos- 
phere in the churches and public halls, and during the ex- 
tremely hot weather they are used in the chambers. It may 
be that America borrowed the idea of India, but I have 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 227 

frequently seen this scheme for securing cool air in opera- 
tion at home. There they are used largely to economize 
labor, by increasing the size of the indispensable fan and 
placing its operation in the hands of one person. Here, 
however, the punkas are an absolute necessity, as in some 
parts of India the temperature in the shade rises to one 
hundred and thirty degrees during the day, and does not 
fall below one hundred degrees at night. To one not 
acquainted with the geographical position of India, it may 
be surprising to learn that the heat increases as the 
traveler progresses northward. The reason for this is 
found in the fact that a large part of the country is a 
comparatively narrow peninsula, and other portions are 
contiguous to the sea. These sections receive the benefit 
of the breezes that blow from the Bay of Bengal, or the 
Arabian Sea. In Northern India, however, there are no 
sea breezes, and the blistering heat of the sun is felt in all 
its intensity. 

Among the natives of India there are positively no 
social relations, nor can there be so long as the weaker 
sex is looked upon and treated as inferior beings, crea- 
tures created to minister to the physical wants of man. 
Another influence that has a tendency to destroy all social 
feelings is caste. This word is often used in America 
to distinguish the petty and largely imaginary differences 
that separate the different grades of society, but the Amer- 
ican who has never visited India or otherwise studied 
the peculiarities of the Hindoos, can have no idea of its 
full force and extent. In America it is but an ill de- 
fined idea, a silly conceit, but here it is an immutable law. 
According to the Laws of Menu, a work supposed to have 
been compiled a thousand years before the Christian era, 
Hindoo society is divided into four principal classes : 1. 
The Brahmins, who are said to have emanated from the 



228 WHA T I SA W, 

head or mouth of Brahma, the Creator. They are the 
chief of all human beings, the leaders and instructors of 
men. A Brahmin must be treated with the most profound 
respect, even by kings; his life and person are protected 
by the severest laws in the world, and by promises of 
endless punishment in the life to come. 2. The second 
class, the Kshatryas, who sprang from the shoulders and 
arms of Brahma, are the military class. 3. The third 
class, the Vaishyas, sprang from the thighs or loins of 
Brahma, and are the mercantile class, or the men of busi- 
ness. 4. The fourth class, the Sudras, sprang from the 
feet of Brahma. They are the servile class, and act as 
servants for the other classes. They do not aspire to any 
dignities or privileges ; they can not acquire property nor 
knowledge by reading. These are the laws of caste as 
originally laid down in the decrees of Brahmism, but the 
lower three classes have been subdivided until I much 
doubt whether the lines of dcmarkation are in all cases 
clearly drawn. The punishment for transgressing the laws 
of caste are very severe. Any person eating or drinking 
with persons of a lower caste becomes an outcast, and it is 
only after suffering the severest penances that he is re- 
stored. All Europeans are looked upon as inferior to the 
lowest caste of Hindoos, and although a resident Euro- 
pean or a traveler may be invited to the residence of a 
wealthy native and be sumptuously entertained, the host 
will neither eat nor drink in his presence. A Brahmin 
will not eat meat, and should he be guilty of even tasting it, 
he loses his caste and suffers eternal punishment in the next 
world. It sometimes occurs that a high caste Brahmin is 
employed in a subordinate capacity by one of the mercan- 
tile class. In such cases the low caste master must pay 
marked respect to the high caste servant, and dare not 
pass him without performing the most servile obeisance. 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 229 

Each caste is represented by a distinguishing mark on the 
forehead, which is renewed every morning. All this is 
ridiculously absurd to a foreigner, but it is a serious mat- 
ter with the natives. This question of caste is the most 
serious obstruction which the missionaries encounter in 
India. The natives will willingly sacrifice their lives to 
maintain their caste, and as- Christianity involves the cast- 
ing aside of all such absurdities, it is not strange that the 
Hindoos have an aversion for it. Notwithstanding the 
persistent efforts of the Christian world, the progress of 
Christianity in India is discouragingly slow. 

The pleasantest incident of our travels, so far, occurred 
in Calcutta. During the last day on shipboard I was ap- 
proached by a gentleman who introduced himself as Mr. 
Mclntyre, and asked me if I was not an American. In 
reply to my affirmative answer he explained that he was 
connected with an American house in Calcutta — C. C. 
Bancroft & Co. — and that one of the firm, Mr. Cobb, had 
married an American lady of my name, a Miss Converse, 
of Boston. Had I been suddenly transported through the 
intervening twelve thousand miles and dropped in the 
midst of friends in America, my surprised delight could 
scarcely have been greater. In the father of Mrs. Cobb 
I recognized one of my warmest personal friends, now re- 
siding in Boston. Mr. and Mrs. Cobb came down to the 
vessel and formed our acquaintance, and in the evening 
the lady sent her private carriage, with liveried servants 
and all the paraphernalia of wealth and social position, to 
our hotel, with a pressing invitation to dine with her. 
We gladly availed ourselves of the opportunity so kindly 
extended, and a more pleasant evening we never enjoyed. 
Despite the Oriental surroundings, we imagined ourselves 
back again in our own country. We talked long, earnestly, 
and unrestrainedly of home, and many were the compari- 



230 WHAT I SAW, 

sons drawn between other nations and America, always 
resulting favorably to the latter. It seemed like a re- 
newal of life to commune again with congenial spirits, and 
to hear God thanked for his blessings, where the thank- 
fulness came from the heart. Mrs. Cobb is one of those 
frank, genial, open-hearted ladies whom it is always a 
pleasure to meet, and whose pleasant characteristics stamp 
her at once as an American. We finally bade our friends 
good-night, and parted from them with much regret, leav- 
ing behind our blessing upon the happy family. Mr. 
Mclntyre is one of the household, and, in accordance with 
his invitation, we were ready at six o'clock the following 
morning for a drive through the city. The excursion was 
rendered doubly pleasant by our companion's thorough 
knowledge of the points most worthy of observation. We 
passed through Fort William, and, inspected many of the 
most attractive features of the city. To Mr. Mclntyre 
and Mr. Cobb and wife are we indebted for much of the 
pleasure derived from our brief sojourn in the metropolis 
of India. 

The weather at Calcutta, although in the midst of 
Winter, reminded us of July at home. The mornings are 
cool and pleasant, and a Summer overcoat is not oppressive. 
This evening, December 21st, we leave for the holy city of 
Benares; thence to Cawnpore, Lucknow, and other places, 
arriving at Bombay about the 19th of January, from which 
point we sail in the steamer Rome for the Red Sea, Suez, 
and Egypt. We expect to reach Egypt about the 1st of 
February, and we are now told that we can not land on 
account of the cholera. We are, however, so anxious to 
make the " Nile trip " that our present intention is to 
enter quarantine, and take the chances. 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 231 



XX. 



Calcutta to Benares — The "Holy City" op the Brahmins— Its 
Gorgeous Temples and Dirty Devotees — The Beastly Habits 
of the Native Fanatics — The Brahmin's Chance for the 
Future Philosophically Considered. 

Benares, India, December 22, 1881. 

We left Calcutta last evening, going to the great East 
India station at six o'clock. There is an amount of form- 
ality and " red tape " about securing passage on an East 
Indian train that is excessively annoying to persons who 
have been used to traveling without restraint or the ob- 
servance of superfluous forms. The bills I gave in pay- 
ment for tickets I was required to indorse like a bank 
check, although it was not four -hours since I drew them 
from the bank. This is probably to avoid counterfeits, but 
if they are indorsed by every one through whose hands 
they pass they would soon resemble more a hotel register 
than a bank note. Perhaps, however, my indorsement 
will be held sufficient, and those bills, with my signature 
written across the back, will pass unquestioned as long as 
they last. Well, if it will do them any good, they are 
welcome to it, but really I did not know my credit was so 
good. Our baggage I got a receipt for instead of a check. 
It is more than strange that the English, with all their 
boasted enterprise and progressiveness, have never yet 
adopted the check system for baggage. Perhaps, however, 
the reason is found in their detestation of " Yankee inven- 
tions." The coach we occupied accommodated only four 



232 WHAT I SAW, 

persons. Each one had a berth, but were compelled to 
provide their own bedding. What a wretched travesty 
upon a sleeping-car. I could not but contrast the accom- 
modations with the luxurious elegance of the Pullman and 
Wagner coaches, that are looked upon as a necessity of 
travel in America. 

The distance from Calcutta to Benares is about four 
hundred miles. But little opportunity was afforded for 
viewing the country before the next morning. The land 
is very flat, and produces rice, mustard, sugar, millet, 
castor beans, and extensively the mango. It is now the 
dry season, and as no rain has fallen for four months, the 
land is parched and baked until it presents an appearance 
of wearying desolation, and every thing raised at this time 
is the result of irrigation. The population in that part of 
the route which we were permitted by daylight to view is 
numerous. They live in the most miserable mud huts 
which the imagination can possibly picture. Cattle, goats, 
and human beings live together, forming an inelegant 
illustration of the "happy family." My sympathies are 
largely with the cattle and goats. Any beasts that are 
compelled to affiliate with the native low caste Hindoos 
are fit objects for commiseration. The women gather the 
excrement of the animals, which, after being formed by the 
hands into cakes, is plastered upon the sides of the dwell- 
ings to dry. It is then used as fuel. Now, fancy, if you 
please, the same hands kneading the dough to make bread for 
your dinner. I do not know whether their hands are washed, 
but a suspicion lingers in my mind that they are not. Hun- 
ger, however, is not controlled by fastidiousness, and we 
did eat bread, and good bread, too, made by these Hindoos. 

As we approached the Ganges, the scene suddenly 
changed, like the shifting colors of a kaleidoscope. The 
incomplete vegetation gave place to a luxuriance which 



AND HOW 1 SAW IT. 233 

would almost have shamed the tropical landscape of Cey- 
lon. We passed many opium fields, and learned much of 
the manner of cultivating the poppy and securing the 
opium of commerce. The process is exceedingly simple. 
An attendant passes through the fields in the morning 
when the dew is still on the plants, and strikes each with 
a kind of many-bladed knife. A milky juice exudes, 
which dries in the sun and turns black. This is gathered 
in the evening by being scraped off, and Ave have opium 
in its purity, ready for the market as soon as it is reduced 
to the proper consistency. This is secured by dividing it 
into small portions, each of which is wrapped carefully in 
a mango leaf. It is then rolled in the hand until the leaf 
becomes a part of the mass. Then it is in the shape of 
a hard, dry ball. 

We also saw numerous indigo fields, and learned some- 
thing of the process by which this azure-tinted necessity 
is prepared for use. The plant grows to the height of 
about two feet, and the bluing matter is obtained by the 
fermentation of the juices expressed. The coloring matter 
dissolves in the Avater, forming a yelloAV solution, Avhich is 
draAvn off. This solution, by continued exposure to the 
air and frequent agitation, gradually deposits indigo as a 
blue precipitate, Avhich is dried and becomes the indigo as 
it is knoAvn to commerce. 

Benares, the city from Avhich I now write, is the 
"sanctum sanctorum" of the Brahmins — the "Holy of 
Holies." We are staying at Clark's Hotel, a neat and 
Avell provided hostelry, Avhere Ave find many of the com- 
forts of more civilized countries. 

Benares is indeed a Avonderful place, and the eye starts 
with surprise and delight as the gilded domes of mosques 
and marble walls of temples burst first upon the view. 
The city presents a frontage on the river of about four 



234 WHAT I SAW, 

miles, and as many of the finest edifices are on its banks, 
from which steps of shining white marble lead down to 
the water, the picture is one of entrancing beauty, which 
no pen can fitly describe. 

The morning after our arrival, being called early, we 
procured a carriage, with a Mohammedan guide, and set 
out to view the wonders of this wonderful city. The place 
is one very difficult to describe, for the reason that every 
step divulges fresh and unthought-of novelties, and no two 
of them are alike. 

Although the Brahmin religion predominates at Be- 
nares, as elsewhere in India, this city, or rather its suburb 
of Sarnath, is credited by tradition with being the birth- 
place and scene of the early work of Buddha. Here, 
some twenty-four hundred years ago, after having become, 
as is claimed by his followers, the incarnation of God, he 
began his teachings and builded the foundation of a relig- 
ion which to-day has more followers than any other. 
Buddhism has met with an experience not unlike that of 
Christianity. Here where the belief first assumed shape 
and where its founder was born and reared, the religion 
has but a weak hold, while in Japan, Ceylon, and China 
it is the unswerving faith of millions, just as the darkness 
of unbelief has settled as a pall over the land w 7 here our 
Savior gave birth to that divine faith that has spread 
throughout the earth and blessed the children of men. 

The site of the city of Sarnath lies to the north of 
Benares several miles, and is to-day a vast ruin. Of the 
origin of the city and its destruction positively nothing is 
known, and nothing more substantial than tradition gives 
it as the birthplace of the great Buddha. The site is a 
vast plain, dotted over with mounds of brick and rubbish, 
some of them more than a hundred feet high. In some 
places walls remain, and are deep cut in unknown hiero- 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 235 

glyph ics. The desolation reminds me much of Layard's 
description of Nineveh. When and by whom was this 
vast city peopled? Whose were the millions of busy feet 
that once thronged its streets, and why was it deserted 
and given over to the howling jackals ? These were the 
queries that thronged my mind as we turned our backs 
upon the city of the dead and forgotten past to wander 
amid the temples, mosques, and palaces of the busy present. 

There are in Benares no less than two thousand four 
hundred temples. Now, my skeptical reader, I did not 
count them, but I suppose some statistical fiend did, and 
I am content to take his word for it. It is a city of tem- 
ples — and a city of ruins, unlike any we have seen in our 
travels. The temples are built of stone and marble, and 
many of the houses of mud, not adobe, as in Mexico, but 
really mud, which is first formed into walls while plastic, 
and then allowed to dry. The streets are narrow, and in 
some places we had to leave our carriage and go on foot 
through narrow lanes to reach the temples which we de- 
sired to visit. One redeeming feature is the hundreds of 
acres in parks, which grow the mango and tamarind, pro- 
viding a grateful shade and a welcome variation to the 
tourist. In Benares many sights remind the visitor of the 
Biblical stories of Abraham. At the wells gather the na- 
tive women, and carry away the water in jars balanced on 
the head. 

Many of the Brahmin temples are devoted to the wor- 
ship of animals, as are the Buddhist shrines in Japan. 
Among those we visited was the " monkey temple." We 
had procured a lot of coppers to give the priests and to 
buy food for the monkeys. The former accepted the do- 
nations without a grimace of gratitude, and the latter 
capered nimbly up and fearlessly ate from our hands. 
The aroma was not as delicate or as pleasing to the olfac- 



236 WHA T I SA W, 

torics as the perfume of new-mown hay. On the con- 
trary, the smell was bewildering, overpowering and crush- 
ing, causing an involuntary closing of the nostrils and a 
hurried though dignified movement toward the open air. 
The stench does not arise wholly from the animals, but is 
due largely to the filthiness of the people who worship 
there. Barren women visit this temple and offer a sacri- 
fice of a he-goat that the gods may look kindly upon them 
and cause them to become mothers. The blood of the ani- 
mals offered at these sacrifices is allowed to remain where 
it is spilled, and as it decomposes adds its mite to the all- 
pervading stench. 

Next, we paid our respects to the " Temple of the 
Bulls," where these animals roam around at will, and also 
go out in the market and eat what they wish. The ani- 
mals are sacred, and not only arc not disturbed, but are 
welcomed to their food with all the devoutness for which 
the idolaters are distinguished. I patted some of them 
gently with my hand. To have struck one would have 
so enraged the people that my death alone would have 
appeased them. The liquid excrement is preserved and 
drank by the devotees. This is not, as many of my read- 
ers would perhaps be glad to believe, an exaggeration, but 
an absolute, undeniable fact. The more I think of these 
people the more fully am I convinced that it is useless to 
attempt to teach them that which they do not want to be- 
lieve. The Almighty doubtless created such creatures for 
some divine purpose, but what that purpose is is beyond 
the grasp of human ken. 

We met in the streets great caravans of elephants, 
camels, donkeys, and bullocks, together with vast crowds 
of native pilgrims, many of whom had come a distance 
of five hundred miles. These deluded creatures prostrate 
themselves every few steps during the whole distance to 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 237 

the Holy City. The faithful on the way are compelled to 
feed them. The prime object of a Brahmin's life is to 
die at Benares. They are taught to believe that their 
souls at once enter the most ecstatic bliss of heaven when 
they leave the body at this place. My own opinion, based 
upon observation, is that not one-tenth enough of them 
die here or elsewhere. The Ganges, the "holy river" of 
Brahmism, receives the bodies of all those who can not 
afford to be burned. 

We varied what gave promise of monotony by visiting 
a " cloth-of-gold " manufactory. The gold is beaten upon 
an anvil until a thread of pure metal of almost inconceiv- 
able fineness is produced. It is then woven, the warp 
being of the finest silk and the woof of this gold thread. 
The splendor and richness of the production can scarcely 
be imagined. The price, of course, is only within the 
reach of a king. One piece Avhich we examined was 
quoted at four hundred and ninety dollars per yard. All 
the work is done by hand. Upon due consideration, we 
have decided not to include a few yards of it in our me- 
mentos of travel in India. It is sold largely to the 
wealthy Baboos, who use it to decorate their elephants. 

We passed through the " Old King's Palace," and 
found much to admire and a little to envy in its luxuri- 
ous fittings. These Oriental kings are fond of the good 
things of life, but they have to die like common people, 
which must be a source of infinite regret to them. The 
occupant of this palace dropped off about a year ago. We 
were courteously treated by the attendants, and given the 
privilege of a thorough inspection of the premises. 

Visiting Benares without seeing the car of Juggernaut 
would be like a play with the leading character omitted. 
Where is the man or woman, who, when children, did not 
have his or her soul horrified by the picture of an im- 



238 WHAT I SAW, 

mense temple on wheels, drawn by a multitude, and 
crushing beneath its ponderous weight scores of hapless 
idolaters? This barbarous custom has been prohibited by 
the English Government, and the devotees content them- 
selves by prostrating their bodies before the car as it is 
drawn through the streets, carefully getting out of the 
way before the wheels reach them. The Juggernaut is a 
ponderous concern, about twenty-five feet high, with 
heavy, cumbrous wheels. The number of festivals cele- 
brated annually in honor of Juggernaut are twelve. He 
has many temples in various parts of the country, the one 
at Puri, on the western coast of the Bay of Bengal, being 
the largest and esteemed the most holy. A writer de- 
scribes the principal edifice as rising to a height of one 
hundred and eighty-four feet. The food is placed at 
stated intervals before the idols. The people throughout 
India and other idolatrous countries are taught that the 
appetite of these gods is satisfied by smelling and seeing 
the food at a distance. This is a remarkably convenient 
arrangement, as the priests always appropriate the food 
after the contributors have gone away. The car festival 
celebrated at Puri is attended by vast multitudes of the 
faithful, and the exercises are of a disgustingly obscene 
character, the address delivered by a priest from the car 
as it is drawn through the street being replete with ex- 
pressions that would shame the cheek of a pariah. 

The great " Gold Temple " is included in the wonders 
which we have surveyed at Benares. The contrast be- 
tween the glittering spires, covered with pure gold, and 
the inside, which " smells to heaven " with a combination 
of all the horrible filth and stinks imaginable, is very 
great. The principal object of worshipers is a stone bull, 
which is at least an improvement over the live animals 
that are sacredly preserved in others. It says a great deal 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 239 

for the devotion of the Hindoos to their religion, that in 
this temple there is a reservoir about three feet square and 
a foot and a half in depth, placed there to receive the 
offerings of devotees, and that it has been known to be 
filled by one distinguished visitor with gold, often with 
rupees, and almost daily with coppers. 

We are surfeited with temples, but could not resist the 
temptation to visit the " Burning Temple," where the 
bodies of the devout are cremated every morning. It is 
located on the banks of the Ganges, and there are brought 
some fifty or more bodies a day. As we approached the 
spot our ears were greeted with the most unearthly, nerve- 
rasping sound which we ever heard dignified with the name 
of music. The corpses are brought to the scene wrapped 
in sheets and laid on the ground. Wood is then piled on, 
and the nearest relative applies the torch, and, after 
walking two or three times around the pile, stalks calmly 
and unconcernedly away. After the burning is complete 
the ashes are thrown into the Ganges, and the spirit of the 
cremated, according to the theory of the believers, enters 
at once into the glories of Paradise. The process of cre- 
mation is partial or complete, according to the ability of 
the deceased to pay. Complete incineration costs five 
dollars, and in cases where this amount of money is not 
paid, the body, partially consumed, is thrown into the 
Ganges. At the same place where these partially con- 
sumed, festering remains were being cast into the stream, 
we saw thousands of pilgrims bathing and drinking of 
the water. Women were also carrying it away in jars, to 
be transported hundreds of miles into the country. The 
guide informed us that a peculiarity of the water of. the 
Ganges is that it remains pure, while other water becomes 
stagnant and stale. 

Although the resident population of the city is less 



240 WHAT I SAW, 

than two hundred thousand, it is estimated that at the 
present time the number of pilgrims here is not less than 
a million and a half. It is impossible for any person who- 
has not viewed the sights we have looked upon to con- 
ceive even a tithe of the misery, filth, and degradation 
among them. Filthiness seems to be a part of the Brahmin 
religion, as much as cleanliness is a portion of the Mo- 
hammedan faith. If such is the case, they are at least 
entitled to the credit of being consistent with their teach- 
ings. A more disgusting mass of dirt and rags never 
presented itself to my eye than can to-day be seen crowd- 
ing the streets of this holy city of Benares, always ex- 
cepting China. But the traveler in India comes here to 
see the sights, and he is supposed to enjoy all of them. 

We procured a boat and went up and down the river 
for a distance of a mile or more. Thus we secured much 
the best view of the more attractive features of the city, 
as most of the temples are located on the banks of the 
stream, with stone or marble steps, frequently as many as 
a hundred in number, leading to the water. Up and 
down these, ebbs and flows a mass of ragged and begrimed 
fanatics, each eager to bathe in the holy water of the 
Ganges. If the process was one-half as effective in cleans- 
ing their physical systems as they claim it is in purifying 
their immortal souls the practice would be more com- 
mendable. 

The Brahmins, I am informed, are believers in the 
transmigration of souls, and the monkeys, bulls, and other 
animals which they worship are revered as the re-em- 
bodied souls of their ancestors. To us such a theory 
is the very climax of absurdity, but, in considering 
the fanaticism of these heathen, it must be remembered 
that the tenets of their peculiar religion have been in- 
stilled into the race during nearly three thousand years; 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 241 

that the doctrine has become a part of their moral, men- 
tal, and physical being; that intelligent investigation is 
with them impossible ; that not even a faint glimmer 
of the enlightenment that guides the thoughts and be- 
liefs of the educated people of the world has ever dawned 
upon them. They are but the children of nature, debased 
by a system of religion which has nothing elevating 
or ennobling in it. When these things are remem- 
bered, we should cease to feel surprise at the slow progress 
of Christianity in India. Education may exist without 
Christianity, as with that class of people who look with 
distrust upon a religion whose teachings and traditions 
can not be made to conform to the recognized laws of 
human reason and scientific research ; but Christianity can 
never progress without education. If the idolaters of 
India and China are to be converted to Christianity, they 
must first be rescued from the intellectual darkness that 
rests upon them as a seemingly impenetrable pall. This 
idea is in conformity with the experience of missionaries 
here in India. The child that is taken when young and 
educated in the mission schools, where the advanced 
theories of temporal and of spiritual life go hand in hand, 
becomes a good and consistent Christian, while conversions 
among adults are extremely rare, and never reliable. 
The idea that the Almighty will condemn to eternal pun- 
ishment these people, whose ideas of religion are the 
result of more than a score of centuries of teaching; who 
conform strictly and doubtless conscientiously to the theo- 
ries that have prevailed among their ancestors for these 
thousands of years, is revolting to me, however earnestly 
the advocates of such a doctrine may defend it. I have 
no theory to advance concerning what disposition will be 
made of them, but the idea that a just God will visit 
eternal punishment upon a people who sinned in igno- 

16 



242 ' WHAT I SAW, 

ranee, is one that my conception of the Almighty will not. 
sustain. 

Near to the " Gold Temple " I have spoken of is the 
celebrated " Well of Knowledge," supposed to be the resi- 
dence of the god Siva. Although he is said to possess, or 
to have possessed, other human senses, that of smell must be 
foreign to him, for any thing more fearful than the stench 
that arises from this sacred well can not be imagined. 
Daily offerings of Ganges water and flowers from hundreds 
of Hindoos have accumulated in this sink, and the effects 
of the decomposition is more easily imagined than de- 
scribed. And yet thousands of natives will deny them- 
selves many things necessary to their comfort to enable 
them to visit the holy place, and wash with the water 
from the well, and even drink it. 

At Benares — which is to the Brahmins a place as holy 
as the Mecca of Mahommedanism, and at all seasons is 
thronged by pilgrims, whose numbers largely increase on 
the occasion of certain fete days — the traveler can study 
more thoroughly than elsewhere the peculiarities, not only 
of the Hindoo character, but their personal habits and 
costumes. The prevailing style of dress among the lower 
castes is, with the men, two pieces of wide cotton cloth, 
one end of which is wrapped about the waist and allowed 
to fall as low as the knees. The other end is thrown 
loosely over the shoulder. The head is usually covered 
by a turban, or a cloth of some bright color, wrapped about 
the head to resemble one. While this is the prevailing 
style of dress, loose trowsers are frequently seen, though 
never extending below the calf of the leg. The dress of 
the women is much more elaborate, though at the same 
time of the utmost simplicity. They have a single piece 
of cloth, of considerable w"idth and indefinite length, .some- 
times plain, but frequently of bright colors. One end of 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 243 

this is wrapped around the waist and allowed to fall to 
the feet. The other end passes around the up^er part of 
the body and over the head, falling to the rear something 
after the manner of a Spanish mantilla. This style of 
dress is one not likely to be adopted by the society ladies 
of America, but its hygienic properties should commend 
it. The women of India are free from the pulmonary 
and hepatic complaints that make life a burden and death 
a relief to their suffering sisters of more civilized lands. 
Those terrible diseases peculiar to the sex, which are the 
rule rather than the exception in Europe and America, 
are almost wholly unknown in India. There is not a 
corset factory in the country, and heavy skirts, bearing 
indefinite pounds upon the waists and hips, and causing 
untold misery and frequently complete destruction of all 
that makes life a pleasure, are curses of civilization that 
have not yet been introduced among the native Hindoos. 
These poor benighted creatures, who in their blind fanat- 
icism fall down to worship before false gods, may, in the 
course of divine events, suffer untold and unending pun- 
ishment. This we are taught by the ultra-orthodox faith 
to believe. But perhaps even then they may find comfort 
in the reflection that during life they were preserved from 
the many evils that follow closest upon the footsteps of 
civilization. 

The brief description which I have given of the Hindoo 
dress refers to the lower and middle classes only. The 
wealthier classes indulge in elaborate costumes of the 
finest muslins, silks, and richest brocades, trimmed in gold 
or silver lace, and often sparkling with the brilliancy 
of precious stones. The desire for jewelry is universal, 
and is not confined to any class or caste. With the 
wealthy, this fondness for display finds expression in costly 
gems and gold lace, while the common people adorn their 



• / 



2-44 WHAT I SAW, 

ears and noses with rings, and their arms and ankles with 
bracelets, almost without number, but of comparatively 
little value. 

During our stay in the Holy City, I conceived the 
idea of paying my respects to the rajah, and with that 
object in view addressed "His Serene Highness" a note 
requesting the privilege of an interview, representing my- 
self as an unassuming representative of the great Yankee 
nation, but possessed of all the curiosity concerning other 
people that distinguish my countrymen. Unfortunately, 
the rajah was not at home, as his secretary announced in 
a reply to my communication, written in as elegant En- 
glish as one might expect from a cultured American. I 
was requested to call at any time after the royal gentle- 
man's return, and given the assurance that I would be 
cordially welcomed. I was sorry for the rajah, and sin- 
cerely trust he appreciated the honor which I was willing 
to confer on him. It is perhaps not often that Americans 
are so condescending, and my departure from the usual 
course needs to be commended. 

I am fully and painfully aware that in this hurried 
sketch of our brief stay in Benares I have not even ap- 
proximated justice to the numberless attractions of the 
city. Justice could not be done in less than an almost 
limitless series of letters. The traveler could remain in 
the city for two years, and every day and every hour find 
something new and startling, either in the history, the 
surroundings, or the current events. During our sojourn 
we have busied ourselves in examining the most salient 
points of attraction, not one-tenth of which I have had 
time or space to describe, and we feel, as we are preparing 
to continue our journey, that much that is interesting has 
been unavoidably neglected. 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 245 



XXL 

LUOKNOW, THE EeAL " ClTY OF PALACES " — Its CONNECTION WITH 

the Indian Mutiny — Visit to the American Mission. 

Lucknow, December 24, 1881. 

This city, credited with a population of between two 
and three hundred thousand, is the former capital of the 
kingdom of Oude, whose ruler, as I have said, is a nominal 
prisoner of state at Calcutta. It is one hitndred and fifty 
miles north-west of Benares, from which place it is 
reached by railroad. The first view of the city presents 
a confusion of towers, domes, minarets, and umbrageous 
foliage which attracts the eye and gives promise of scenes 
of wonderful beauty. Usually the first appearance of an 
Oriental city is deceptive, and a closer inspection develops 
much of wretched misery. Lucknow, while not wholly 
an exception to this rule, comes nearer escaping the usual 
criticism than any place we have seen. The city is about 
twenty-five miles in circumference, and seems more to the 
visitor like a succession of villages than a continuous 
town. This is caused by the numerous and extensive 
parks. This place is as strongly Mohammedan as Benares 
is Brahmin. In point of bigotry and fanaticism there is 
not much difference between the two, but it is a relief to 
escape from the dingy, filthy temples and idolatry of the 
former city to the nearer approach to decency and genuine 
worship of God found here. 

The kings of Oude were a luxurious set of fellows, 
who believed in the creature comforts of this life as well 



246 WHAT I SAW, 

as the spiritual enjoyment of the one to come. We first 
visited the palace of the king who has his present invol- 
untary residence at Calcutta. The building is in the form 
of a square, with elegant and tasteful fountains and gar- 
dens in the center. We wandered through the magnificent 
marble halls and penetrated the luxurious chambers of 
Oriental royalty, furnished with a lavish elegance nowhere 
surpassed, if equaled, and looked out from its balconies 
upon the splendid grounds, stretching away to a back- 
ground of other palaces and mosques, with glittering 
marble walls of pearly whiteness, and gilded domes and 
minarets which reflected the rays of the sun in dazzling 
brilliancy. The scene brought to mind the enchanting 
pages of the "Arabian Nights." This palace is just one 
mile and a half square. Adjoining it is a tomb built by 
the king for one of his wives, of pure white marble, with 
a dome as large as that of the capitol at "Washington. 
At the corners are tall and shapely minarets. Under the 
dome rests the sarcophagus containing the body. An iron 
railing surrounds it, which was formerly encased in gold, 
but the precious metal was torn away when the city was 
sacked during the mutiny. The walls were formerly in- 
laid with precious stones, but these also were carried away. 
The tomb, of equal elegance, which the king built for 
himself, stands near to that of his wife. 

During the long continued dynasty, each king built 
for himself a palace, and this makes of Lucknow, perhaps 
more fully than any other place in India, a city of pal- 
aces. While all are or have been elegant, there are de- 
grees of elegance, of which the one I have briefly spoken 
of is the finest. We included in our peregrinations the pri- 
vate mosque of the latest king, where is his silver throne. 
This, like the railing surrounding his wife's sarcophagus, 
was once covered with gold, but the more precious casing 



AND HO W 1 SA W IT. 247 

disappeared at the same time. When Blucher, that grim 
old Prussian soldier, was taken up into the dome of St. 
Paul's at London, and given a view of the city, he ex- 
claimed : " What a city to plunder I" This was brought 
forcibly to my mind, and I thought what a city to plun- 
der Lucknow must have been. The exquisite ornamenta- 
tion of this mosque is even now beyond description. 

The " Gold Umbrella Temple " is one of the features 
of the city. It received its name from a gigantic gold 
umbrella, twenty feet in diameter, which formerly graced 
its dome. We wandered at leisure through its spacious 
halls, and next visited the "Holy of Holy Mosque," 
where rest the remains of one of the numerous kings and 
his wives. The building has one central dome, and at 
each corner a minaret one hundred and seventy feet high. 
On occasions the edifice is lighted up by no less than ten 
thousand candles, and presents such a scene of brilliancy 
as can be seen nowhere else on earth. The floor is laid 
in blocks of variegated marble, and there is also a copy 
in marble, four feet by six, of the great mosque at Mecca, 
Avhere is deposited the body of Mahomet. 

Next upon our necessarily incomplete programme was 
the English Residency, the name given in India to the 
residence and head-quarters of the British governor. Here 
it was that, during the mutiny, the women and children 
were imprisoned in a subterranean vault for one hundred 
and seventy-five days, and here it was the gallant Law- 
rence lost his life. The building, which was formerly a 
king's palace, is now in ruins. The rebels destroyed it 
with shot and shell, and but a part of the walls now stand. 
A church which had been built by the English near by 
suffered the same fate. 

We passed by the English cemetery, where rest many 
of the victims of the mutiny, to the elephant grounds, 



248 WHAT 1 SAW, 

where the government has a corral of forty-five elephants, 
and sixty-five camels. So much larger and finer are these 
specimens than those we see in the States that we could 
almost think they belong to a different species. I walked 
over the grounds and mingled freely with the docile 
animals. Many were lying down and being scrubbed by 
their attendants. They seemed to enjoy their bath almost 
as much as I did mine in Ceylon. All were very tame. 
I dropped a small piece of money and was amused to see 
one quickly pick it up and pass it to his keeper. This 
trick they have undoubtedly been taught, as every Hindoo 
we have yet seen is a pertinacious beggar. 

Hill's Hotel, where we are quartered here, has a bit 
of history connected with it. It was at one time, like 
pretty much every other pretentious building in Lucknow, 
a king's palace. The section of royalty that formerly 
occupied the place seems to have had the reputation of 
being a grim joker, who was jealous of his fame in that 
regard. While dining one day with his ministers, one of 
them presumed to make an attempt to reply to a witty 
sally of his majesty. The king flew into a towering rage, 
and commanded that the presumptuous fellow's head should 
be cut off at once. This, of course, was done, and to-day 
we dined in the same room. Thanks to the civilizing 
effect of the presence of the scarlet-coated British sol- 
diers, we had no fear for the safety of our precious caputs. 

Among the hundreds of mosques and palaces in the 
city many are now used by the English as quarters for 
soldiers and storehouses for ordnance. The conquerors of 
India have little veneration for their predecessors. 

Lucknow is indissolubly connected in every person's 
mind with the great Indian mutiny. Here were enacted 
some of the most stirring events of that unfortunate 
period. Who does not remember the starving, beleaguered 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 249 

garrison and the heroic Jessie Brown, whose thrilling cry, 
" Dinna ye hear the slogan ? 'T is Campbell and his men !" 
nerved her faltering companions to renewed efforts for de- 
fense? [I am sorry to say that history, that ruthless 
iconoclast which so mercilessly despoils our most cherished 
idols, shows that there is not a word of truth in the story. 
This, however, does not detract in the least from the 
heroism of the beleaguered little garrison and the women 
and children they so bravely and successfully defended.] 
The native contingent in Oude were among the first to join 
the mutiny. Regiment after regiment either disbanded or 
joined the main body of the mutineers. These gathered 
in large force at Lucknow, and closely invested the Res- 
idency. Sir Henry Lawrence was in command of a small 
force of English and loyal native soldiers. He was 
prompt to act. The extensive range of buildings formerly 
occupied by the resident, his suite, and guard were placed 
in a state of defense ; guns were mounted at all command- 
ing points, a store of provisions laid in, and the native 
troops were apparently as much interested as the Europeans 
in holding out against the insurgents. Throughout the 
month of June, 1857, Sir Henry not only repulsed every 
assault, but inflicted severe chastisement upon the enemy 
whenever he ventured to appear. Toward the close of 
the month, however, supplies began to run short, owing 
to the number of wajnen and children who had taken 
refuge with the garrison. It therefore became necessary 
to make a sortie in the direction of the hostile camp. On 
the 2d of July this was done, and resulted in the complete 
rout of the insurgents. The loyal native troops fought 
bravely, but, strangely enough, after the victory was won, 
they turned their guns upon the English and killed no 
less than sixty-five men and twelve officers, among the 
latter Sir Henry Lawrence himself. The remainder re- 



250 WHAT 1 SAW, 

treated safely, where they were closely besieged until the 
25th of September, when they were relieved by the timely 
arrival of a force under General Havelock. But General 
Havelock's relief was only temporary, as the force was 
still unable to cope with the insurgent army, fifty thousand 
in number, encumbered, as they were, by nearly a thou- 
sand women and children and wounded. The gallant 
little band held out against their joint enemies, the muti- 
neers and hunger, for two months, when they were relieved 
by a force under Sir Colin Campbell. As I write, the 
scene of these stirring events is before my eyes, and I 
raise my hat in respect to the bravery of the English 
soldiers who defended the helpless women and children 
until starvation, worse even than the heartless Sepoys, re- 
duced them in every thing but courage. 

The Secundar Bagh, which was formerly a pleasure 
garden, is now a large walled enclosure, and is chiefly in- 
teresting by reason of its being the scene of one of the 
most terrible but just retributions of the mutiny of 1857. 
During the siege of the handful of English soldiery in the 
Residency this enclosure was occupied by a picked force 
of two thousand Sepoys, men who had been trained to be 
soldiers by English officers. The walls were looj)-holed 
for musketry, and every preparation made for a desperate 
defense in case of an attack by a relieving force of British. 
"When the advance of Sir Colin Ca/npbell reached Luck- 
now, a brigade composed of the Ninety-third Highlanders, 
part of the Fourth Punjaub (loyal native) and a detach- 
ment of the Fifty-third Foot stormed the Secundar. The 
defenders fought like the tigers of their native jungles, 
but the hardy Scots and lion-hearted Englishmen, nerved 
by a desperation which made every man a hero and led 
him forward to deeds of unequaled valor, proved more 
than equals for their opponents, and of the two thousand 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 251 

Sepoys within that inclosure not one escaped. Quarter 
was neither asked nor expected. It was a bloody, a fear- 
ful retribution, but found more than justification in the 
eyes of civilized humanity in a remembrance of the hun- 
dreds of women and little children who had been cause- 
lessly and mercilessly put to death by the treacherous 
Sepoys. 

This is Christmas eve, and among the teeming mill- 
ions surrounding us there is not one to wish us a " merry 
Christmas." Although the heat here has little of the 
enervating intensity of the tropics, it requires an effort 
for us to keep comfortably cool, while doubtless our 
friends in Ohio are shivering beneath heavy wraps. This 
morning the mercury indicated fifty-eight in the shade, 
and, as this is mid-winter, it must be excessively warm in 
the Summer. While I can not agree with Colonel Sellers, 
Mark Twain's hero, that warmth is purely a matter of 
imagination, yet it is certainly a question largely of edu- 
cation. The natives of the tropics are veritable human 
salamanders, and in a few years I expect we should be- 
come as lazy and shiftless as they are. 

On Christmas morning we were awakened by the 
British band playing " God Save the Queen," and with 
all my heart I responded, " God bless her !" So soon as 
we realized that this was the joyful anniversary, we united 
in a heartfelt "Merry Christmas" to our friends at home, 
which we hope sped through the intervening ten thousand 
miles and found a response in breasts as grateful as ours 
for the continued blessings of a kind Providence. 

To-day we met a native gentleman and wife, residents 
of the " up country," who are fine English scholars, and 
regaled us with many interesting stories of life in the 
midst of wild elephants, tigers, etc. Their descriptions 
of tiger hunts were very entertaining, but did not arouse 



252 WHAT I SAW, 

within us a spark of ambition to indulge in the pastime. 
According to my mind, if there is any one thing in the 
vast catalogue of nature in which distance lends enchant- 
ment to the view it is a beastly tiger. If they wait for 
me to hunt them they will enjoy an indefinite immunity 
from disturbance. The beasts we see in menageries at 
home are poor measly things compared with the genuine 
Indian animal. From the latter, "Good Lord, deliver us!" 

This (Christmas) morning I ordered our guide to take 
me to Rev. Ram Chunder Bose, a native convert to Chris- 
tianity whom many of my readers will doubtless remem- 
ber as the gentleman who a year ago delivered an address 
in the Methodist Church at Bucyrus. He did not recog- 
nize me at first, but after I had removed my Indian hel- 
met, the recognition was complete. The reverend gentle- 
man was profuse in his welcome. He also lives in a 
king's palace. He at once accompanied us to the Ameri- 
can mission, where we had a pleasant chat with the ladies, 
and spent an hour quite pleasantly. 

In the afternoon we went with brother Bose to the Sun- 
day-school. He had about one hundred scholars, from the 
four different castes, and their appearance was not such as 
gave me great confidence in their material or spiritual 
progress. I was accorded the privilege of questioning 
them, and through the interpreter they answered quite 
readily. Chunder Bose is undoubtedly an earnest, faith- 
ful worker in the cause of Christianity, but his ideas of 
the progress of the work, though not rose-tinted, and mine 
differ. He thinks that within five hundred years India 
will become Christianized. I place the figures at five 
thousand. Mr. Badly, of Iowa, has charge of the missions 
here, and I had a long and j^easant talk with him. We 
are much indebted to him for numerous kindnesses. 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 253 



XXII. 

From Lucknow to Cawnpore — The Scene of the Massacre op 
1857 — Agra, "The City op the Beautiful" — The Great Taj 
Mahal — One op the Wonders op the World — A Tomb that 
was Seventeen Years in Building, Occupying the Labor op 
Twenty Thousand Men, and Costing Eighteen Millions op 
Dollars. 

Agra, India, December jo, 1S81. 

Oue departure from Lucknow was attended with feel- 
ings of unfeigned regret. The necessity for pushing 
forward on our journey compelled us to limit the pleas- 
ures enjoyed in wandering through its beautiful parks, 
admiring its numerous palaces, and speculating among its 
ruins. As I said in my last, Lucknow is a collection of 
cities, being separated by immense plats, the parks or 
hunting grounds of former kings, often three miles in 
extent. I suppose these spaces are really a part of the 
city, and should be so considered, but the impression 
created is that of a series of cities, connected in interests 
but separated in fact. We spent Christmas evening very 
pleasantly in the company of a native lady and gentleman, 
who spoke English. They added much to our information 
concerning India and its people, their religion, social 
habits, and customs. They asked us to remain a clay 
longer and enjoy the novelty of an elephant ride. They 
possess a drove of a hundred, and promised us our pick 
of the lot. We would have been much pleased to accede 
to their request, but were admonished that time flies, and 
that there is still before us a large part of our programme. 



254 WHAT I SAW, 

The day following Christmas, we went to Cawnpore, 
distant from Lucknow about forty -five miles, where we 
arrived at 10 A. M., breakfasted, procured a carriage and 
drove to view the sights. 

Cawnpore is interesting to the tourist mainly by reason 
of its intimate connection with the mutiny of 1857. Here 
it was that the infamous Nana Sahib, that incarnation of 
treachery and brutality, massacred the entire garrison, 
including the helpless women and children. The outbreak 
occurred at Cawnpore on the night of the 6th of June, 
when the native contingent deserted in a body, and the 
next afternoon the residence of every foreigner was fired. 
On the 8th the attack upon the garrison commenced, 
and was kept up until the 13th, with constantly increasing 
vigor. On the 12th the barracks, where the women and 
children had found shelter, were burned, and these poor 
creatures were compelled to seek protection in the trenches. 
Such were the circumstances when Nana Sahib, who was 
in command, sent a note to the commander of the gar- 
rison, proposing honorable terms of capitulation. It was 
agreed that the besieged should give up the government 
money, the guns, and ammunition, and that the insurgents 
should provide boats to convey them to Allahabad un- 
molested. This agreement was drawn up in writng, 
signed and sealed and ratified by Nana Sahib with a 
solemn oath. The garrison numbered, including upwards 
of three hundred women and children, nine hundred per- 
sons. On the 27th the surrendered garrison were escorted 
to the river, a distance of over a mile, by the entire rebel 
army, where, when they were in the act of embarking, the 
firing of a gun gave the signal, and the sepoys opened 
fire upon the helpless prisoners. All the men were killed 
except four, two of whom are yet living. The occupants 
of one boat escaped temporarily, after making a vigorous 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 255 

defense with their side-arras, which they had been allowed 
to retain. They were, however, captured the next day 
and brought back to the Nana's camp, where the men were 
shot to death with some ceremony. All the women and 
children were taken to the insurgent camp and confined 
in a large building, and on the 15th of July orders were 
issued to put every one to death. They were directed to 
come out of the rooms in which they were confined. 
Upon their refusal the troops brought muskets, and after 
firing a great many shots through the windows and doors, 
rushed in with swords and bayonets. Some of the help- 
less creatures, in their agony, fell down at the feet of 
their murderers and plead for mercy in the most pitiful 
manner. The fearful deed was done, most deliberately and 
completely, in the midst of the dreadful shrieks and cries 
of the victims. There were between one hundred and 
forty and one hundred and fifty souls, the wives, daughters, 
and children of the British garrison. The next morning, 
on opening the doors of the vast slaughter house, it was 
found that a few had escaped the assassins, and they were 
ordered to be sacrificed. Terrorized, they rushed from the 
building and plunged headlong into an adjacent well. 
The dead bodies of the victims of the preceding evening 
were then ordered to be thrown into the same excavation. 
On the 20th of July, General Havelock, after encounter- 
ing a desperate resistance, recovered Cawnpore, but, alas, 
they arrived in time only to avenge their murdered coun- 
trymen — too late to save them ! The floor of the building 
in which the massacre took place was still two inches 
deep in blood. Portions of dresses, children's frocks, 
ladies' underclothing, boys' troAvsers, ladies' round hats, 
all thickly clotted with blood, lay strewed about. Leaves 
of Bibles, and a book entitled " Preparation for Death," 
were scattered in all directions, mixed up with broken 



256 WHAT I SAW, 

daguerreotypes, combs, and bunches of long hair torn out 
by the roots. The wooden pillars in the shed were hacked 
with sword cuts, in which stuck tresses of female hair. 
The well in the same compound was a still more dreadful 
spectacle. Nearly two hundred women and children had 
been thrown into it. Arms and legs were protruding 
from the mouth of the well when first discovered. It was 
promptly covered up, and is now one large grave. Terri- 
ble was the retribution visited by the British upon those 
engaged in the massacre. Hundreds were captured and 
summarily put to death. General Neil, the commandant, 
adopted a curious plan to increase the punishment of the 
natives. To a high caste Brahmin, the touch of blood is 
eternal damnation. When such were captured they were 
first compelled to work at cleaning up the horrifying evi- 
dence of the massacre, and then hanged. 

I have thus given, largely from memory, a brief 
sketch of the massacre of Cawnpore, which aroused the 
horror and indignation of the civilized world, for the 
reason that the events of twenty-five years ago are not 
within the remembrance of many of my readers and have 
perhaps passed from the memory of others ; and also be- 
cause the scene where .these horrors were enacted, horrors 
which give to travel in India to every English-speaking 
tourist an additional interest, was passed over by us. We 
visited the landing at the river where the massacre was 
first inaugurated, and the spot, now marked by a tasteful 
memorial, where the women and children were so heart- 
lessly put to death. The scene of the massacre of the 
women and children is now one of the most beautiful 
spots in all India, it having been transformed into an ele- 
gant park or garden by the British authorities. In the 
midst of this garden is an inclosure, surrounded by marble 
walls, and in the center of this, immediately over the fatal 



AND HO W 1 SA W IT. 257 

well, stands the marble statue of an angel, holding in its 
hands palm leaves, the symbol of victory obtained through 
martyrdom. The pedestal upon which stands the angel 
bears an inscription in the following words : 

"Sacred to the perpetual memory of a great company of 
Christian people — chiefly women and children — who, near 
this spot, were cruelly massacred by the. followers of the rebel, 
Nana Dhoondopunt, of Bithoor, and cast, the dying with the 
dead, into the well below, on the 15th day of July, 1857." 

As we stood and gazed upon this tasteful memorial or 
allowed our eyes to wander over the floral beauties of the 
garden, our minds reverted to a different scene, but a 
little more than twenty-four years ago, when the helpless 
women and innocent children, within a few steps of where 
we stood, were butchered with a horrid brutality that 
could find its conception only in the minds of blood- 
thirsty savages. Beneath our feet almost was the well 
down which their mutilated bodies were thrown, and 
where, in one common grave, rest the hapless victims of 
a fiendish treachery, awaiting the call which shall summon 
all to arise. Mingled with these sad thoughts was the 
essentially human consolation found in the knowledge of 
the terrible retribution visited upon the authors of the 
tragedy by the British authorities. Even at this late day 
the Christian blood tingles with resentment, and something 
akin to a malediction against the whole Hindoo race 
springs unbidden to the lips. I have had the pleasure of 
perusing the narrative of W. J. Shepherd, one of the four 
survivors of the massacre, a neat volume, printed at Luck- 
now, in which the author graphically portrays the scenes 
attending the slaughter, in which were sacrificed his wife, 
two children, a brother and a sister-in-law. Mr. Shepherd 
escaped from the trenches before the surrender, by dis- 
guising himself as a Hindoo, and remained in Cawnpore 

17 



258 WHAT I SAW, 

until after the arrival of the relieving force under Gen- 
eral Havelock. The horrors he describes are almost be- 
yond human conception, and they have a tendency to 
confirm the reader's mind in thankfulness to a just Provi- 
dence that provided an eternal punishment for the willfully 
perverse of his creatures. 

My guide, a native who during the mutiny remained 
loyal to the British cause, and was present in Cawnpore 
during the massacre, says the English troops arrived in 
eighty minutes after the butchery was complete. Either 
his memory or his veracity is certainly at fault, as history 
records that it was about five days. 

Previous to the outbreak of twenty-five years ago, 
Cawnpore was a large city, numbering at one time, it is 
said, more than a million inhabitants, and, like Lueknow, 
is a combination of country and city, or perhaps more 
properly speaking, presenting the appearance of a collec- 
tion of villages. The whole now contains but a little 
more than one hundred thousand people. The parks are 
innumerable, and of varied degrees of pleasantness. There 
is little of interest connected with the place beyond being 
the scene of the massacre which I have incompletely de- 
tailed. We remained but one day, and left on the next 
morning for the city from which I now write. 

We are having very pleasant weather here, the mer- 
cury ranging from sixty degrees in the morning to eighty 
at noon. After much experience and a deal of calm and 
careful consideration, we have reached the solemn conclu- 
sion that traveling and sight-seeing is hard work. Not 
only the mind but the physical system is kept upon a 
constant strain, and nothing seems sweeter or more enjoy- 
able than the rest we secure at night. In cities like Be- 
nares and Lueknow, where our experiences were but a 
series of surprises, the mind becomes bewildered to a great 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 259 

extent, and difficulty in placing upon paper a connected 
account of the scenes and incidents is the natural result. 
For this reason, added to my limited experience as a writer, 
I beg my readers to excuse the appearance of sameness 
and other shortcomings which I fear tend to mar my pro- 
ductions. My letters are usually prepared amid surround- 
ings not conducive to mental placidity, and amid scenes of 
novelty that tend to distract the writer's attention. 

Our hotel at Cawnpore was a one-story building, with 
deep surrounding verandas. In the center is the dining- 
room, and adjoining it the sleeping apartments. Each is 
supplied with a bath room and earth closet. The waiters 
at the tables were Hindoos, with white turbans and gowns, 
and bare feet. They are as noiseless as cats in their move- 
ments, and one can not disabuse his mind of the Thugs 
and their bow-strings, as one of them slips up behind his 
chair. The caste among the natives is of no inconsiderable 
inconvenience to travelers. For instance, the one who 
waits upon you at table would under no consideration 
move your luggage, and the Indian baggage-smasher 
would much rather hurl himself into the Ganges than 
drive your carriage, and so through the whole category. 

While seated in the hotel at Cawnpore, enjoying the 
novelty and, so far as possible, the cooling breezes, we 
were amused by a number of jugglers and singers, the 
latter of whom, possibly in the way of compliment to our 
nationality, rendered " John Brown ;" at least that was un- 
doubtedly the air, but the words, being Hindoo, were left 
wholly to our imagination. The jugglers of India have a 
world-wide celebrity, and truly they are a " slick " and 
dextrous lot of fellows. One of the party of which I am 
speaking produced an earthen pot, partially filled with 
earth, and directly before our eyes and within a half- 
dozen feet of the points of our noses, caused a shrub to 



260 WHAT I SAW, 

sprout, grow, and bloom, within two minutes. Life is too 
short and explicable novelties in India too numerous to 
justify even speculation as to how the trick was performed. 

If any of my readers contemplate stocking a menagerie, 
they will be interested in the prices which prevail here in 
India, the land from which most of the supplies are de- 
rived. Tame elephants cost from four hundred and fifty 
to five hundred dollars ; camels, twenty-five to thirty dol- 
lars ; tigers, about three hundred dollars ; and other ani- 
mals a less amount. In this country the j)eople talk as 
calmly and unconcernedly about elephant and tiger hunt- 
ing as the boys at home do of a quest for rabbits or quail. 

Speaking of hotels reminds me that in this regard 
I have been disappointed in India. I find the hotels 
much better than we expected. They are well kept, well 
provided, and universally clean. The charges are not 
exorbitant, being usually about two dollars per day for 
accommodations similar to those to be obtained in America 
for the same price. For our Christmas dinner at Lucknow 
we had dishes not dissimilar to those we would have en- 
joyed at home, except that our turkey, roast pork, beef, 
etc., was made more relishable by a dessert of luscious, 
fresh strawberries. 

During our brief sojourn in Cawnpore, we visited the 
bungalow of Dr. McGrew, one of the Methodist mission- 
aries. He and his good wife have a school of about one 
thousand pupils, drawn from all the different castes, the 
poor, the rich, and- the very rich. They tell us they are 
hopeful of spiritual benefit, and agree with me that the 
work is a great promoter of trade and commerce. I have 
no cause for dispute with the well-meant efforts of these 
faithful workers in the cause of the Master, but it is seed 
sown on stony ground. 

We visited the Hindoo suttee ground, a place where 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 261 

formerly the living widow was sacrificed upon the funeral 
pyre of the deceased husband. This practice, like many 
others of the most barbarous customs of the natives, has 
been forbidden by the English authorities, and now, if it 
is thought that the spirit of the dead husband can not 
enter Paradise without being accompanied by that of his 
wife, she sends a proxy, in the form of a lay figure. 
Whether this satisfies the gods, I have not learned. 

In coming from Cawnpore to Agra we left behind us 
the Ganges. The route is over the great East Indian 
Railway to Toondla Junction, and thence by a branch. 
This city is located on the river Jumna, a branch of the 
Ganges. The country en route is diversified in fertility, 
many of the hills being barren, except when subject to ir- 
rigation, but the lowlands partake of the luxurious fer- 
tility that distinguishes the valley of the Ganges. In 
India, as elsewhere throughout the Orient, agriculture is 
in a condition as primitive almost as in the days of Cain. 
The farming implements in vogue in America a century 
since would be a thousand years ahead of the time in In- 
dia. The trip to Agra from Cawnpore is varied by a con- 
tinuous succession of caravans, composed of elephants and 
camels, and the picture of one of these, bivouacked for 
the night, is at once novel and entertaining. 

We arrived here at midnight, and the next hour was 
crowded with more disagreeable experiences than we hope 
are in store for us during any similar length of time. 
There is here only one English hotel, and it was full. 
Just what to do we did not know. Like the Son of man, 
we had nowhere to lay our heads, but unlike him, we were 
in a strange land. I can inform any one curious enough 
to inquire, that there is not even a little bit of amusement 
in being in a strange country, where you can not speak 
an intelligible word, at the dead hour of midnight, with as 



262 WHAT I SAW, 

clear an idea of the most feasible route to the North Pole 
as you have of the direction to a place to sleep. We told 
our driver what we wanted, but we might as well have 
poured our distressed tale into the unsympathetic ear of an 
idol. The latter would have comprehended its meaning 
fully as well. Finally, just as we were about to be over- 
whelmed with despair, the idea seemed to penetrate the 
sensibilities of our chape r ron that perhaps we wanted to go 
to bed, and he took us to a native hotel. In the language 
of the boys, " It is a daisy." Even here only one room 
was vacant, but that was quite sufficient, having an area 
of about thirty by forty feet. The furniture was the most 
attractive feature of the apartment. It consisted wholly 
of one miserable table, such as might be purchased of an 
American dealer for ten cents, with a chance of beiug paid 
for taking it away if the customer complained of the price. 
The writer at once entered upon the delivery of a lecture 
well suited to the occasion. The words were probably as 
obscure to the thick-headed Hindoo attendant as would 
have been a sentence of Hebrew. The meaning, however, 
was undoubtedly more clear, as the first few vigorously 
expressed paragraphs caused him to bring a cot and a 
sheet. Another emphatically enunciated sentence, and a 
comforter was produced ; one more, a rag of doubtful 
purity, rolled up, and about the size of a goose-egg, for a 
pillow, and another brought forth a towel which possessed 
the merit of not having been in continuous use more than 
a week. My final elocutionary effort caused the now 
thoroughly aroused waiter to provide some water and a 
glass. I did not feel my physical strength equal to the 
effort necessary to secure a mirror, and my respected com- 
panion, perhaps for the first time in her life, was compelled 
to make her toilet before an imaginary looking-glass. 
She experienced, in consequence, a nearer approach to 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 263 

discouragement than I ever before observed. Some women 
will face an Apache Indian without a tremor, will posi- 
tively enjoy an earthquake, and be unabashed by a howling 
mob of Japanese, but should circumstances require them to 
dress without a mirror there is liable to be trouble. Not- 
withstanding our untoward surroundings, we settled down 
upon our couch as cozily as a pair of doves, and slept well. 
Fatigue is a great sedative. I believe I could have slept 
on the single table, and I am certain Mrs. C would have 
been wholly content if there had been nothing more in the 
room than a mirror. 

At breakfast we were again besieged by the Hindoo 
troubadors, who rendered "We won't go home till morn- 
ing " very acceptably. I invested two annas (five cents) in 
the entertainment, and felt well repaid for the j)leasant 
reminder of " God's country." These gave place to the 
usual galaxy of pertinacious peddlers of curiosities. We 
have, ever since leaving home, been suffering from the 
" curiosity fever," but experience, that great teacher, has 
taught us much, and we can now view with equanimity 
the array of objects which three months since we would 
have given much to possess. 

We are now distant from Calcutta about eight hundred 
and fifty miles. The fact that this city is but four hun- 
dred and fifty feet above the sea will serve to indicate the 
extent of the vast plain which composes the Avestern part 
of India. The current of the Jumna, which is a tributary 
of the Ganges, at this point is very slow, and so continues 
until the water reaches the Ganges and finally falls into 
the Bay of Bengal. 

After breakfast we procured a carriage and guide, and 
went to visit that wonder of all wonders, the Taj-Mahal. 
All writers upon India agree that this structure is wholly 
unsurpassed. Bayard Taylor, that prince of tourists, ac- 



264 WHAT I SAW, 

knowledged his inability to do the edifice descriptive jus- 
tice. It is ; then, with much temerity that I approach the 
subject. 

The Taj -Mahal stands on the bank of the river Jumna, 
about four miles south-east of the city of Agra, and is 
reached by a pleasant drive. On the way we pass the 
remains of villas of the Mogul nobles, once a scene of lux- 
urious loveliness, but now unsightly heaps of rubbish, with 
scarcely a vestige of their ancient magnificence. The 
Taj, which has aroused the enthusiastic admiration of all 
travelers, and is universally pronounced the most magnif- 
icent structure in the world, is but a tomb, a monument 
erected by Shah Jehan to his wife Banoo, or, with her 
title, Banoo Begum. The grounds surrounding the edifice 
are about one hundred acres in extent and are inclosed 
by a lofty wall. We entered the grounds by a massive 
archway of red sandstone eighty feet high, of itself a mon- 
ument to the architectural skill of the builders. The 
grounds are tastefully laid out in walks bordered by flow- 
ers and trees, and, unlike most of the former glory of 
India, the whole is carefully guarded and kept in repair 
by the English. From the gate a straight, smooth walk, 
bordered with rows of Italian cypress trees and a series of 
elegant crystal fountains, leads to the north end of the Taj. 
Looking through the vista thus formed, the eye rests upon 
the tomb, which forms the background of the picture. 
The platform upon which the structure rests is four hun- 
dred feet square, composed of highly polished and dazzling 
white marble. The building rises from an elevation of 
about forty feet above the ground, and is also, in every 
part, inside and out, of the purest white marble, carved 
with extracts from the Koran and representations of the 
lotus flower, and inlaid with pearl and precious stones, 
such as agate, cornelian and sardonyx. The effect when 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 265 

the rays of the sun rest upon it can be better imagined by 
the reader than described by me. The view leaves nothing 
to the imagination of the beholder, but completely fills his 
most gorgeous conception of glorious magnificence. The 
building is a square structure of about one hundred and 
fifty feet on each side. This square form is reduced to an 
octagonal figure by having the corners cut down, thus 
showing four principal and four smaller fronts. There is 
a central dome and at each corner a pure white marble 
minaret. On each of the four principal sides of the build- 
ing is a niche, extending nearly to the apex. Each of 
these niches is an exquisite exhibition of tasteful carving 
and mosaic of precious stones. The central dome is sur- 
mounted by a golden crescent. Four domes of lesser 
dimensions crown the facades. On each of the four prin- 
cipal sides is an arch, through which the visitor may gain 
the interior. Entering the arch opposite the main entrance 
to the grounds, the visitor passes down a slight incline, 
and enters a chamber directly under the central dome. 
The sarcophagus of Banoo Begum rests here. The light 
from the doors is, by a process showing that the Indian 
Mohammedans understood some of the principles of optics, 
concentrated upon the tomb. Near by is the sarcopha- 
gus of the Shah Jehan himself, of smaller dimensions, 
though scarcely less elaborate ornamentation, than that of 
his wife. These sarcophagi are of the purest white mar- 
ble, covered with delicate tracing of sculptured vines and 
texts from the Koran, traced by inlaid precious stones, 
sapphires, rubies, topaz, garnets, emeralds, jasper, malachite, 
cornelian, agate, bloodstone, etc. Above this is the prin- 
cipal floor of the edifice, beneath the dome, and you look 
up a height of two hundred and sixty-two feet to its 
vaulted roof. On the mosaic floor of this rotunda is a 
second sarcophagus or centotaph, similar in dimensions to 



266 WHAT I SAW, 

the one below, which contains the remains of the queen, 
but perhaps more elaborately ornamented. In passing 
through this structure, the visitor is impressed not so 
much by its immensity as by its delicate and exquisite 
beauty and harmony. The railing surrounding the tombs 
is about six feet high, and is composed of immense blocks 
of marble two inches thick, cut out in delicate tracery or 
filagree that rivals in exquisite beauty fine lace. Under- 
stand me, that this ornamentation is not simply traced on 
the surface but is cut clear through the block, giving, as I 
have said, the appearance of a curtain of lace. It is said, 
and doubtless truthfully, that the entire Koran, or Mo- 
hammedan Bible, is given in the mosaic throughout the 
building. 

No description that I can give, and none that I have 
ever read, conveys any adequate idea of the Taj -Mahal. 
The visitor is so bewildered by the magnificent appearance 
and entire harmony of every detail that any attempt to 
express in words the sentiments of admiration which he 
feels is liable to lead to an impression of exaggeration on 
the mind of the reader. Tradition says that the original 
idea of the Shah was to erect for himself a similar mon- 
ument on the opposite side of the river, and connect the 
two with a silver bridge. This project would probably 
have been carried out had not death intervened. 

The labor in the construction of the Taj-Mahal was all 
forced except the work of foreign artists, and it required 
the service of twenty thousand men seventeen years in 
building. These laborers were paid nothing but their 
food, and yet the structure cost eighteen millions of dollars. 
It is the reality of the fairy dream of Aladdin. 

On each side of the Taj stands a red sandstone mosque, 
which, though of magnificent proportions and attractive 
architecture, sink into insignificance by reason of the com- 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 267 

parison with the principal structure. We passed out again 
through the arched gateway, and turned to look down the 
avenue for the last time. The view is one that is indel- 
ibly photographed upon my brain, and never can I hope 
to see its equal. From a boy I had read of the great 
Taj-Mahal, and looked forward to a visit with all the en- 
thusiasm of youth, hoping for much, but fearing disap- 
pointment. The most roseate dream of magnificence fell 
far short of the reality. We feel that we have seen 
the world, for nothing else prepared by human hands 
can equal it. The mosques of which I have spoken 
are of exquisite beauty, and if alone would be a feature 
of the visit. 

We much regret that circumstances prevented us secur- 
ing a view of the magnificent architectural monument 
by moonlight, a scene that surpasses even the most ex- 
travagant mental conception, when the massive structure 
of the purest white marble seems to melt away and min- 
gle with the fleecy clouds above. Most of my readers 
have doubtless looked with varied interest and appre- 
ciation upon photographs and engravings of the tomb, 
but they can thus secure but an indefinite idea of the 
building as it really appears. The surroundings, a beau- 
tiful grove of tropical trees and plants, interspersed with 
tasteful fountains, is a fit setting to the priceless gem that 
rests like a brilliant diamond in a cluster of rubies, sap- 
phires, and emeralds. 

The Taj -Mahal is by no means the only attraction to 
be found at Agra. Among the many others is the fort, 
built of red sandstone, and covering an area of about 
eight hundred and fifty acres. Within this is the famous 
Pearl Mosque, built of alabaster, where the Mohammedan 
kings and their courts worshiped. The sides of the ves- 
tibule of the inner hall are composed of marble lacework 



268 WHAT I SAW, 

similar to that in the great Taj. Behind this screen the 
concubines of the king were hidden from the public gaze 
while participating in the worship. "We thoroughly in- 
spected the fort, which contains several palaces, and also 
prisons where the wives and other offenders against the 
king were frequently confined. "We penetrated the depths 
of sub-cellars, where, in a vault, is a beam from which he 
caused those who were so unfortunate as to incur the 
royal enmity to be hung. The victims, after being stran- 
gled, were precipitated into a deep well which communi- 
cated with the river, and were washed away by the current. 
We went through cell after cell whose walls were four 
feet thick. "What horrors, what blood-curdling stories of 
misery, crime, and death these silent walls could tell ! 
One palace in the fort contains the throne, which, tradi- 
tion says, cracked and poured forth blood, when a con- 
quering usurper occupied it. The guide shows the fissure 
and the blood stains, and views with unfeigned disgust the 
slightest evidence of incredulity upon the part of the 
visitor. There also are the pearl-marble chairs, which, 
like the throne, are cracked and crumbling with decay. 

Although the visitor to Agra, after a view of the Taj 
Mahal, the fort, and the Pearl Mosque, feels himself 
surfeited with the magnificence of architecture, he should 
not neglect the tomb of the great Akbar, at Secundra. 
This wise and good ruler was a contemporary of Queen 
Elizabeth ; was born in 1542, ascended the throne at the 
age of fourteen and died in 1604, after a reign of forty- 
eight years. The tomb of Akbar stands on a terrace in 
the center of an inclosure of about one hundred acres. 
The high wall surrounding is of red sandstone. There 
are four gates, some of which are more than a hundred 
feet high, forming an alcove entrance. The tomb itself is 
five stories in height, each story receding from the line of 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 269 

the one below, forming a terrace. The building covers an 
area of four acres, and is built of red sandstone, except 
the fifth story, which is of polished white marble covered 
with tracery work and carvings of extracts from the 
Koran cut deep in the walls. We descended a long pas- 
sage way to the crypt, and there, in a pure marble sar- 
cophagus, rest the remains of the great Hindoo king. 
At the apex of this building was formerly set the great 
Kohinoor diamond, the same which now graces the jewels 
of the Queen of England. Here, in the full rays of the 
tropical sun, it shone with a brilliancy that could doubt- 
less be seen at a great distance. The exteriors of the 
different stories have pavilions, resting upon marble col- 
umns which terminate above in graceful gilded spires. 

Agra, when it was the capital of the Mogul Empire, 
was undoubtedly the most magnificent city in the world. 
The kings were possessed of unlimited wealth and power, 
combined with an appreciative love for the beautiful which 
found its best and most appropriate expression in the 
architectural grandeur of which only a small part remains. 
Like all Indian cities which we have seen, Agra is inter- 
spersed with extensive parks, which relieve the eye and 
serve as a grateful oasis to the weary tourist. It is a vast 
picture, where unrivaled magnificence is interspersed with 
gigantic moss-grown ruins and wretchedness. 

We are, as I write, preparing for the continuance of 
our journey to Delhi, the once capital of the Moguls. 



270 WHAT I SAW, 



XXIII. 

Delhi — The Old Cities and the New — The Ancient Ruins — 
Kootub Minak — The Jumping Well — The Mosque of Jumna 
Musjid — The Imperial Palace — The Peacock Throne — Delhi 
in the Mutiny — Social Life of the Hindoos. 

Delhi, India January 2, 1882. 

This is the most northern point which our tour in 
India will reach. We are now nearly a thousand niiles 
north of Calcutta, yet but five hundred feet above the 
level of the sea. We are stopping at the United Service 
Hotel, kept by a native Hindoo of the high caste. So 
soon as possible after arriving, we procured a guide and 
carriage for a tour of the city, or rather succession of 
cities, that constitute what is known as Delhi. We were 
accompanied on our tour of observation by an English 
couple. We first went to Old Delhi, which is now but a 
vast ruin. The date of the Mohammedan rule in India and 
the foundation of the great Mogul Empire, the richest 
and most magnificent, perhaps, that ever existed on earth, 
is fixed at the year 1398. Previous to that there had been 
several Mussulman invasions, but of only partial success. 
The first (A. D. 715) resulted in an occupation of but few 
years. In the eleventh century Sultan Mahmoud advanced 
into India, and conquered that vast country now known 
as the Punjaub, in the north-west, and finally succeeded in 
overcoming the whole northern part of Hindoostan. In 
1398 Tamerlane invaded the country, seized Delhi, and 
established the great Mogul Empire, which continued 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 271 

until overthrown by the British in 1803. It appears that 
Agra was the capital only during the reign of Akbar, 
and that Delhi was the seat of government during the re- 
mainder of the four hundred years that the kingdom ex- 
isted. A peculiarity is found in the history of this ancient 
capital that accounts for the appearance of a vast succession 
of ruins. It seems that each change of dynasty (and there 
were several) resulted in the at least partial destruction 
of the city, and it was rebuilt in a different location. 
Thus the Delhi of to-day is the last one of the shifting 
cities. It dates from the reign of Humayoon, the father 
of Akbar, about the beginning of the sixteenth century. 
Consequently, it is by no means an ancient city, its build- 
ing being contemporaneous with the discovery of America. 
It has at present a population of about two hundred 
thousand ; is located on the river Jumna, one hundred and 
twelve miles north-west of Agra, and four hundred and 
twenty-five north-west of Benares. It has an extensive 
trade with Afghanistan and the northern provinces of In- 
dia, and extensive manufactories of cotton and other textile 
fabrics, and jewelry. The primitive mode of manufacture 
prevailing causes surprise at the magnificent results at- 
tained. All the cities of Delhi, including the ancient 
ruins, cover an area of fully forty miles square. These 
ruins are to the tourist the most interesting feature. One 
can not move a rod in any direction without passing over 
or through the debris of some vast temple, mosque, or 
palace. The tomb of Humayoon, the father of Akbar, 
while not so magnificent as the Taj-Mahal, surpasses it 
in extent, and is probably the grandest monument ever 
erected to a king. It is but one of numerous tombs, all 
of which are approached through massive arches that form 
a part of the great wall. We noted the tomb of Akbar's 
daughter. Her body rests under a vast marble dome, 



272 WHAT I SAW, 

and the railing surrounding the tomb is of elegantly carved 
marble fretwork, similar to that described at Agra. She 
requested that grass should forever grow on her tomb, 
and to this day it is kept green. 

The descriptions which I have attempted to give of the 
tombs at Agra, and one here, will do, in a general way, 
for all of the numerous mausoleums. They vary only in 
size and elegance. They are from one hundred feet square 
to an area of three acres, and from fifty feet to a hundred 
or more in height. Each is surmounted by a bulb-shaped 
dome. The entrances to the grounds are universally mass- 
ive arches of red sandstone. The gateways under these 
arches are thirty or forty feet in height. The visitor 
passes up from the entrance through a long walk, many 
of them half a mile in extent, to the tomb. All the 
mosques and tombs are built either of red sandstone or 
white marble, or both. 

The oldest of the old cities of Delhi, which is thought 
to date from about 300 B. C, is distant from our hotel 
nearly twenty-five miles. There is not, there can not be, 
any drive in the world replete with greater interest, or 
more diversified by a continuity of objects and views of 
superior attractiveness to the antiquary. The reader, when 
feeling a sensation of surprise, and perhaps incredulity, 
regarding the distance, will please remember that the group 
of Delhis is no less than one hundred and sixty miles in 
circumference. 

After reaching the ruins of the oldest city, and in fact 
for miles before the point is reached, the attention is 
attracted by a massive turret, whose shapely elevation 
forms a towering background to the picture before you. 
As you approach, its dimensions increase until when you 
stand at the base the sensation of wonder becomes merged 
in one of awe. It is known as the Kootub Minar, and 




THE KOOTUB MINAR, 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 273 

being forty -seven feet in diameter at the base, towers to 
the height of two hundred and eighty-six. It tapers from 
the base upward, and is composed of five stories, the base 
of each having a projecting gallery or balustrade. The 
height of each story is graduated in proportion to the 
reduced circumference, so that while the lower is nearly a 
hundred feet high the upper is but a little more than 
twenty. The first, second, and third stories are built of red 
sandstone, the fourth of marble with a broad belt of red 
stone, and the fifth is of pure marble. The entire column 
is fluted, though the fluting varies in the different stories. 
A winding stairway in the inside leads to the top. Under 
the balustrade of each story are gigantic carvings, com- 
posed largely of texts from the Koran. There is a differ- 
ence of opinion among writers in regard to its antiquity. 
Concerning by whom or for what purpose it was erected, 
all are agreed that nothing is known. An Arabic inscrip- 
tion indicates that it was completed towards the close of 
the thirteenth century, but when it was commenced is a 
profound mystery. Near to this massive pile are the re- 
mains of a once beautiful temple, where hundreds of the 
supporting columns are yet standing, all carved in bold 
relief, and no two alike. The gateway leading to it I 
judge to be about fifty feet high. 

Not far from the Kootub Minar is an ancient pillar of 
pure iron, a cylinder sixteen inches in diameter. Its top 
extends twenty feet above the surface, and an excavation 
to the depth of twenty-six feet has failed to discover the 
lower end of it. Nothing is known of who constructed it 
or for what purpose it was built. Bayard Taylor assigns 
its construction to one century before Christ, while Seward 
places the date at A. D. 319. Where such eminent author- 
ities disagree I will not presume to express an opinion. 

As a matter of fact, I have none to express. 

18 



274 WHAT I SAW, 

We visited the tomb of one king who had formerly 
been the slave of his predecessor. It is in an excellent 
state of preservation. The floor is of marble, and was for- 
merly inlaid with precious stones. All have, however, 
been picked out, and the stone now presents something the 
appearance of a honeycomb. The entire area of these 
ruins, miles in extent, is but a repetition of such as I 
have endeavored to describe, and any attempt to note 
them in detail would fill a volume. 

In the midst of this desolation is a well about forty 
feet in diameter, walled up and with steps leading to the 
water below, a distance of over eighty feet. This is util- 
ized by the beggars, who haunt the visitor at every step, 
as a means to extort money. It is called the "jumping 
well," and for a few pence these wretched mendicants will 
plunge from the surface to the water below, like so many 
frogs, returning by a flight of steps. I watched the feat 
with interest for some time, in the vain hope that some 
of the wretches would be drowned, but when my hopes 
developed no substantial basis, I turned away to objects 
more worthy of attention. These natives live in the midst 
of the ruins in all the squalor which poverty and an innate 
love of wretchedness can produce. Their habitations are 
mud huts, where throng thousands of natives, priests, men, 
women, and children, and all are beggars of the most 
pertinacious type. 

We returned finally to our hotel, wearied, worn, and 
bewildered by the multiplicity of sights which we had wit- 
nessed — sights that, like thousands of others in India, are 
of themselves well worth a trip around the world to see. 

Having disposed of old Delhi to our at least partial 
satisfaction, we next turned our investigations to the 
present city. One of the finest edifices in the new city is 
the mosque of Jumna Musjid. It stands in the center of 






AND HOW I SAW IT. 275 

a rocky terrace, and is reached by long stone staircases on 
three sides. The dimensions are not so great as others 
we have seen ; being but two hundred by one hundred and 
twenty feet, but its elevated position and surroundings 
make it one of the most prominent features of the city. 
It is surmounted by three shapely marble cupolas with 
gilded spires. ' At each end of the building is a minaret, 
built of alternating courses of black and w T hite marble. 
The effect is singularly grand and imposing. The floor of 
the mosque is a peculiar and striking mosaic. Each slab 
of white marble is about three and a half feet by eighteen 
inches, and is surrounded by a black marble border of the 
same material. 

There are a number of what are claimed to be relics 
of Mohammed in the mosque, one a hair from his beard 
and the other a pair of slippers. These are carefully 
preserved in a glass case. The hair looks just like a 
thread from the hirsute aj>pendage of any man, and the 
slippers indicate that the Holy Prophet was not as careful 
of his footwear as he might have been. They are woe- 
fully dilapidated. Strange as it may appear, I was not a 
bit impressed by the presence of these sacred mementos 
of the great head of the Mussulman Church. 

The imperial palace at Delhi is located within the walls 
of the citadel. It was built, like the Taj-Mahal, by the 
Shah Jehan, and is in a complete state of preservation. 
It vies in magnificence with the other monuments of the 
Mogul dynasty. It is composed mainly of two audience 
chambers, a greater and a lesser. Each of these chambers 
is open in front, and so placed that the great ruler, while 
seated upon his throne, could view the assemblage that 
perhaps often filled the apartment and the grounds in 
front. In both of these chambers is a marble throne. 
The smaller room is noted as the location of the " Peacock 



276 WHAT I SAW, 

Throne/' celebrated in history as the finest and most 
costly bauble of royalty. It is, or rather was, for it has 
been despoiled, six feet long and four feet wide, composed 
of solid gold, inlaid with precious stones, and surmounted 
by a gold canopy, resting on twelve columns of the same 
precious metal. Around the canopy hung a fringe of 
pearls. On each side of the throne proper stood umbrel- 
las, the Mogul symbol of royalty, formed of crimson vel- 
vet, richly embroidered with gold thread and pearls, and 
with handles of solid gold, eight feet long, studded with 
diamonds. The back of the throne was a representation 
of the expanded tail of a peacock, the natural colors of 
which were imitated by sapphires, rubies, emeralds, dia- 
monds, and other brilliant gems. For this throne the 
Shah Jehah expended the sum of nearly thirty millions of 
dollars. 

This famous throne was despoiled by the Persian con- 
queror, Nadir Shah, on the occasion of one of those peri- 
odical invasions the precise dates of which have become 
uncertain. The walls and other parts of the chamber were 
furnished with equal magnificence, but nearly every thing 
of value that was transportable was carried away during 
the sacking of the city at different times by the Persians 
and the English. Among other rich loot taken from 
the imperial palace at Delhi was the solid silver plates 
which composed the roof of this same room. The filigree 
work which adorns the cornices and capitals of the chamber 
is formed of white marble inlaid with pure gold. In each 
angle of the room is engraved in Arabic the lines which 
have been made immortal by Moore in " Lalla Pookh," 

" If there be an Elysium on earth 
It is this! It is this!" 

I can only say that I agree fully with the artist in his 
estimate of his own production. 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 211 

Adjoining this smaller audience chamber, as I have 
said, is the larger room devoted to the receptions accorded 
to the nobles and ministers of his court. The walls are 
of the purest marble, and were inlaid with precious stones. 
These valuables were all taken away at the time the city 
was destroyed. The holes in the marble where they 
were imbedded still remain. 

Human life to these Mogul kings was but a toy, to 
be played with, enjoyed or sacrificed as the humor of the 
sovereign suggested. Religious persecution was carried to 
an extent scarcely equaled in the darkest history of the 
world. In the space of an acre, shown by the guide, 
one king had no less than one hundred thousand persons 
executed because they would not forswear their religion 
and become followers of Mohammed. As I walked over the 
ground and thought of the horrors that it had witnessed, 
I could no longer wonder at the downfall of the kingdom. 
Great had been the sins of the people and terrible was 
the retribution. 

Delhi, as the capital of the nominal Mogul Empire, was 
the scene of some of the most notable events of the mutiny 
of 1857. The outbreak occurred here on the 27th of 
May, and was caused directly by the advent of a body of 
mutineers who arrived from Meerut, where they had mur- 
dered every European resident, and succeeded in passing 
the gates before they could be closed against them. They 
were soon joined by the sepoys stationed here, in murder- 
ing the European inhabitants. No mercy was shown to 
age or sex. Delicate woman were stripped of their cloth- 
ing, turned naked into the streets, beaten with bamboos, 
pelted with filth and abandoned to the lust of the blood- 
stained barbarians until death came to their relief. It is 
said that at first the king refused to join the movement, 
but he was soon borne along by the irresistible current. 



278 WHAT I SAW, 

He proclaimed himself, with much parade and circum- 
stance, king of all India, but it is a notable fact that he 
never wielded power outside the walls of the city, and 
very little in it, as the insurgents were never any thing 
more than a half organized mob, who were dispersed read- 
ily at any time by one-tenth their number of disciplined 
English soldiery. Guns were mounted and defiance thrown 
by the insurgents at Delhi to the British nation. The 
British force approached on the 30th of May, and from 
that day until the final assault and reduction of the city 
on the 20th of September, the contests were continuous. 
The king and his family were captured. The former, 
being upwards of ninety years of age, and scarcely respon- 
sible for his acts, was spared, but his two sons and grand- 
son were led out and summarily shot. Thus went down 
in a sea of blood the last remnant of the Moguls, and 
the great empire, rivaling Babylon in magnificence and 
crime, passed into history and tradition. 

There are features of attractiveness in the Delhi of to- 
day that have no direct connection with the ancient mag- 
nificence of the Mogul dynasties, or the bitter recollections 
of the more recent mutiny and its attendant horrors. The 
Queen's Gardens, in the heart of the city, a park which 
has been laid out by the English authorities since the 
suppression of the outbreak of 1857, is a beautiful place, 
kept in complete condition by the government. 

The principal street of Delhi, the Chandee Chowk, is 
still an attractive thoroughfare, though possessing few of 
the features of the Strand, in London, or New York's 
Broadway. From early in the morning until evening, it 
is thronged with elephants, camels, bullocks, and other 
beasts of burden, arriving with grain and other produc- 
tions of the surrounding plains, and returning with the 
articles of merchandise received in exchange. After night- 






AND HOW I SAW IT. 279 

fall the scene changes, and the busy mart of trade is 
transformed into a pleasure ground, where gayly dressed 
natives mingle with European residents, officials, and 
travelers, and the Brahmin good-naturedly jostles his Mo- 
hammedan neighbor, and each pass with a look of pitying 
contempt the unobtrusive Christian. 

During our brief stay in Delhi Mrs. Converse accepted 
an invitation to visit a Mohammedan harem. I wanted 
to go along, but was refused permission. That was really 
unkind. Ever since I was a boy and read of the beautiful 
houris of the Turkish seraglios and other blood-warming 
details which did not improve my limited stock of youth- 
ful morals, I have been anxious to study the internal 
economy of a harem. I have a fancy that my faculty of 
appreciation would be equal to the occasion. But there 
was no use calculating upon an impossibility, and so I will 
endeavor to be content, as in the past, with wondering 
whether the story of the curious Dudu, as told by Byron, 
really was an exaggeration. Mrs. C. reported little of her 
observations beyond a resume of the information gained 
concerning some features of social life among the Hindoos. 
In the harem which she visited, there were no less than 
three generations of females, the oldest of whom is the 
mistress, and at her death is succeeded by the next in age. 
In India, as some of my readers are aware, the children 
are married at a very early age, frequently as young as 
from two to five years. These marriages are, of course, 
arranged wholly by the parents, and are made the occasion 
of grand festivals, which last, among the wealthier natives, 
from two to five days. These extremely early marriages 
are not the rule, but are not by any means exceptional. 
In this tropical country the human fruit ripens at an 
early age, and it is not uncommon to see a Hindoo mother 
whose years do not exceed twelve. However young the 



280 WHAT I SAW, 

children may be when married, they do not live together 
until the age of puberty has arrived, which with boys in 
India is about twelve, and with girls from ten to eleven. 
The marriage festivities of the lower classes differ from 
those of the wealthy only in proportion to the difference 
in the ability of the parents to afford the expense. Among 
the lower classes, when the husband and wife have com- 
menced to live together, it is the custom to paint on the 
door of the hut a rude figure of an elephant, which is inter- 
preted to mean that the occupants are in the first year of 
their married life, and that the bride is privileged to 
receive calls. Many of these huts have I seen where the 
newly married girl was busying herself gathering the 
fresh excrement of cattle and with her shapely hands 
forming it into thin cakes to dry in the sun, preparatory 
to being used for fuel. Will my aesthetic lady readers 
mentally gaze upon the picture for a moment, and fancy 
themselves making a call upon a Hindoo bride of low 
caste and staying to tea? But I haven't the slightest 
doubt these benighted Hindoos are as happy and con- 
tented as are the queenly ladies of fashion in America, 
who bewilder the senses of the unthinking public, and 
deplete the pockets of their husbands by their elegant 
costumes of silks, velvets, and laces. Happiness is the 
result more of education than aught else. In the language 
of the street : " It 's all owing to how a person is raised ! " 

From Delhi we move in a south-west direction to 
Jeypoor, in the province of Rajpootana; thence to the 
coast, near the Gulf of Cutch, and from thence by rail to 
Bombay. 

We were reminded yesterday of the advent of a new year 
by the compliment of a serenade by a native brass band, 
who visited our hotel and rendered " Hail Columbia," and 
other American national airs, in a very acceptable manner. 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 281 

We appreciated the compliment, and, as in duty bound, 
became duly afflicted with a mild attack of nostalgia, or 
home-sickness. Perhaps, few of my readers have ever 
found themselves wandering in strange lands, and listening 
to the familiar strains of America's national airs. To such 
I can say that no music ever sounded so sweet, and the 
breast swells with pride as the mind wanders back over 
the thousands of miles of intervening land and sea to 
that glorious land of the stars and stripes, that land 
chosen of God and blessed as no nation ever before was 
blessed. In all my wanderings, through lands in most 
parts of the habitable globe, I have drawn a mental pic- 
ture of comparison, and each day found renewed reasons 
for thankfulness that I am an American. Nowhere are 
the people so prosperous and happy, nowhere are the 
breezes so pleasant, nowhere does the sun shine so bright, 
nowhere are the blessings of Providence so bountifully 
showered as in my own America. 

Our guide in Delhi was a highly educated and accom- 
plished native Hindoo, Budri Dhas, and I feel that I but 
imperfectly repay his many acts of kind consideration 
when I commend him to the attention of all tourists. 
He speaks English perfectly, and his knowledge of Delhi, 
its history and traditions, is thorough. He is a thorough 
Brahmin, with implicit confidence in the teachings of his 
religion, but at the same time holding liberal ideas of toler- 
ance toward other beliefs. This toleration, however, does 
not extend to the Mohammedans. He hates the followers 
of the Prophet with a most unholy hatred, and never 
neglects an opportunity to anathematize them viciously, 
holding them, by some obscure process of reasoning, re- 
sponsible for the evils that have befallen his country. I, 
of course, agreed with him. I always agree with a guide. 
And let me say to all persons contemplating travel, never 



282 WHAT I SAW, 

presume to differ with a guide, or for a moment dispute 
his most extravagant assertions. If you do you arouse his 
contempt, and the contempt of a guide is something ter- 
rible. Mental reservations are the tourist's only recourse. 
If a Hindoo chaperon tells you George Washington was 
a Brahmin and worshiped at the sacred shrine in Benares, 
do n't dispute it. If he imparts the startling information 
that Christ became a follower of Mohammed before his cru- 
cifixion, and died in the faith, you will rise several degrees 
in his estimation if you express your gratification. Guides 
are an institution, and, as a class, are the monumental 
liars of the age. Budri Dhas, however, is the most intel- 
ligent, the most accommodating, and the nearest approach 
to reliable that I have met in my travels. 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 283 



XXIV. 

The Tour of Ixdia Continued — The Author a Guest op Roy- 
alty — From Jeypoor to the Coast — Bombay and its Sur- 
roundings — The "Tower of Silence" — How the Parsees Dis- 
pose of their Dead — The Wonderful Temple on Elephanta 
Island — A Modification of Programme — Egypt, the Holy 
Land, Turkey and Greece Cut Out. 

Bombay, India, January 5, 1882. 

Our tour of India is ended. During the past twenty- 
four days our wanderings have been made to include the 
principal points of interest of this vast Oriental empire, 
though by no means have we seen the greater part of the 
country. This could not be done in less than a year, and 
even then the tourist would be compelled to neglect much 
that would prove interesting. Our time was limited, and 
we selected those parts which are richest in relics of the past 
and most prolific of impressions of the Hindoo present. 
Had it been possible, we would have been pleased to 
extend our trip to the Himalayas, that vast mountain 
range that stretches across the north-eastern frontier of 
India, and forms the boundary of Thibet. The means of 
conveyance are, however, very primitive, and the time and 
physical exertion necessary scarcely justified by the results. 

After leaving Delhi, we went south-west to the city of 
Jeypoor, the capital of the province of Rajpootana. This 
province did not participate in the mutiny of 1857, and 
in consequence remains under the immediate control of 
the Rajah, though paying tribute to the English. All the 



284 WHA T I SA W, 

local laws and customs are purely Hindoo. As the coun- 
try has never been invaded or the city overthrown, it 
remains as it has been for countless years, and is perhaps 
the best point in India to study the native character. The 
city is unlike any we have seen, and by some travelers 
is said to be the handsomest in India. The buildings are 
all of brick, plastered on the outside with a pinkish yel- 
low composition. All are two stories high, and scarcely a 
building has an appearance different from the others. The 
streets are about one hundred feet wide, are lit with gas, 
and diversified with numerous squares, where fountains 
and other pleasing ornamentations are located. The city 
is quite large, and fully inclosed by an ancient wall. This 
latter was doubtless a thorough protection against arrows, 
catapults and similar primitive engines of war, but would 
not stand against the heavy artillery of the present day 
for twenty-four hours. The people of the province are, 
however, so quiet and peacefully disposed, so inclined to 
smoothly accept their position as a dependency of the 
English crown, that there is little probability the test will 
ever be made. 

The people of Eajpootana are the most contented and 
pleasantly situated of any part of India we have seen. 
The traveler sees little of the squalor and wretchedness, 
the discontent and evident repression, which is so appar- 
ent elsewhere. The contrast is so glaring as to attract 
attention at once. At Jeypoor there are no foreign 
residents. 

We went to the School of Arts, and the manager, a 
native, who spoke excellent English, paid us the kindest 
attention, exhibiting and explaining the methods of in- 
struction Avith evident pleasure. In reply to the query of 
where he learned the English language, he said the school 
kept up by the government taught English as well as 




RAJAH OF RAJPOOTANA. 



AND ROW I SAW IT. 285 

native. I asked this gentleman concerning the missionary 
work. He replied that it was productive of good inas- 
much and to the extent that it educates the children of 
the poor without any expense to the government. He 
also expressed the opinion that genuine conversions to 
Christianity are very rare; that a Hindoo remains a Hin- 
doo at heart, though he may profess to be a Christian; if 
an apparent change to Christianity will tend to enhance 
his temporal welfare he may profess conversion, but so 
soon as he can no longer profit by the teachings of the 
missionaries the latent idolatry will reassert itself. This is 
undoubtedly true, and is sustained by the unanimous 
testimony which we have secured throughout the East. 
How long the American people can afford to contribute 
money to educate the subjects of Great Britain on this 
side of the earth, while thousands of home heathens are 
suffering from the lack of instruction, is a problem which 
they alone can solve. As I have previously said, my faith 
in the work of foreign missions is very limited. The 
trite aphorism, "every man should first clean his own 
dooryard," can be applied to the missionary work with 
much justice and equal practical benefit. I have a much 
kinder feeling for the missionary work in Japan than any 
other country we have been in. There is a simplicity and 
willingness to accept teaching in the Japanese character 
that is not found among the Hindoos. The latter are as 
firmly convinced that the beastly practices of Brahminism 
are the true and only religion as any Christian can be 
that Christ is the head of the only genuine faith. The 
Mohammedans are, if any difference is apparent, more 
bigoted and less tolerant than the Brahmins. 

"We only remained at Jeypoor one day, but it was a 
day of the pleasantest enjoyment, devoted to inspecting 
the peculiarities of a city that has probably remained 



286 WHAT I SAW, 

wholly unchanged in its features during the lapse of a 
thousand years. It was the first we visited that had ex- 
perienced none of the iconoclastic influences of "civil- 
ization." 

We stopped at a Dak Bungaloo, or, as it would be 
called in America, a stage hotel, outside the wall. The 
traveler is only allowed to remain twenty-four hours, but 
we made the best possible use of our brief sojourn. This 
restriction is not, as I learned, owing to any feeling 
against foreigners, but because of the limited accommoda- 
tions for travelers, rendering it necessary for visitors to 
give way to others. Every thing about the place was 
neat and clean, and the accommodations generally all that 
any one could ask or expect to receive. 

The day of our stay was the occasion of a grand fete, 
not arranged, perhaps, in our honor, but in which, never- 
thelesss, we played a somewhat prominent and wholly 
unexpected part. The Rajah appeared at 4 P. M. on the 
plaza, and the occasion was made one of gorgeous display. 
The streets were lined with elephants, camels, and bullock 
carts, decked in all the magnificence of holiday trappings. 
The Rajah, or king, sustains an English school at his 
individual expense, and the cause of all this royal display 
was a public recitation, or, as we would call it at home, 
an "examination," conducted in the central square or park 
of the city. This is an open space of about four acres, 
and around, covering an area of nearly forty acres, is a 
beautiful garden of fruits and flowers. At 5 P. M. we 
responded to an invitation and went to the gate, and were 
invited to enter. We accepted the invitation, and upon 
further request seated ourselves in chairs near the prin- 
cipal stand. In a few moments His Royal Highness ap- 
peared with his ministers of state and other dignitaries. 
He first greeted some officials and then politely salaamed 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 287 

to us, and took a seat the sixth from ours. We were 
seated next to the minister of war. All the officials 
were dressed in their state robes. That of the Rajah was 
especially noticed for its elegance. He wore a silver 
turban, a loose robe trimmed with gold lace and jewels, 
white pantaloons, and on his ankles gold rings, which 
sparkled with settings of brilliant diamonds. He sat in 
the center of his officials and conferred the prizes upon 
the winners in the contest. All the proceedings were in 
English. 

Outside the line of officials and attaches of the court 
was a solid phalanx of mounted lancers, and beyond them 
the dense masses of people stretched away until they filled 
the streets leading to the square. We were presented with 
a programme of the exercises, and Mrs. C. was made the 
recipient of a handsome bouquet, indirectly from the hands 
of the Rajah. These we will retain as souvenirs of our 
first, and perhaps last, intercourse with royalty. 

The Rajah, I almost neglected to say, is a handsome 
man, and bears his royal honors with becoming dignity. 
The conversation which we had with the officials was car- 
ried on in pure English, as free from foreign accent as 
is spoken by natives of the States. The pupils all ac- 
quitted themselves creditably. One feature of the dra- 
matic part of the entertainment was amusing. It was a 
representation of a jury trial, where the lawyers pleaded 
ably and vigorously, the judge delivered his charge with 
solomn dignity, and the jury imitated to perfection the 
assumption of owl-like wisdom that distinguishes the av- 
erage jury in America. 

After thanking the officials for the pleasure we had 
experienced in being permitted to attend the exhibition, 
we were returned to our hotel with a driver and footman 
to attend us. 



288 WHAT J SAW, 

It would have given us great pleasure to remain a day 
longer at Jeypoor to witness a novelty, being a fight be- 
tween two elephants. The Rajah has a number of these 
animals, and two of them had become vicious. He was 
going to utilize their bad temper by providing an amuse- 
ment for his people. Circumstances combined, however, 
to render our longer stay inexpedient. Consequently, we 
were off the nest morning at six o'clock. 

In India nobody except the tourist is in a hurry. 
Like the people of other countries, the predisposition to 
distaste for exertion finds its most pronounced cxpress- 
sion in an abhorrence of early rising, which nothing but 
the most persistent and urgent demands will overcome. 
This was our experience at the hotel in Jeypoor. The 
amount of racket which I raised around that house at half- 
past four o'clock in the morning would have put to shame 
a howling dervish or an uxorious torn cat. My first foray 
was upon the quarters of the cook, whom I found enjoying 
a sleep so profound that my most vigorous efforts were 
scarcely sufficient to arouse him. Finally, however, I 
succeeded partially in bringing him to a realization of the 
unsatisfactory condition of affairs, and started next for the 
hut of the gharry driver, at the other end of the com- 
pound. After an amount of physical exertion to which I 
am not inured, I got him awake. He could not under- 
stand a word of English, and in order to bring my desires 
within the scope of his comprehension I ran vigorously 
up and down before him, imitating the sound of a loco- 
motive with my voice and causing my arms to work like 
the driving rods of the same piece of machinery. What 
a picture I presented! It certainly was less dignified 
than novel. Having secured the driver, as I supposed, I 
returned to the bungalow only to find the cook fast asleep. 
This was exasperating in the extreme, and the pointed 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 289 

nature of my remarks, expressed in the most vigorous 
English, seemed to penetrate his benighted mind, and 
breakfast was soon ready. Returning to the compound to 
see how the driver was getting along, I found him lament- 
ing that the pole of the gharry was broken and he could 
not go. With my assistance, however, the difficulty was 
remedied, and soon, having partaken of breakfast, we 
were on our way to the depot, located some two miles 
from the hotel. This latter fact is one peculiar to India. 
With but one exception we found the depots at distances 
varying from one to three miles from the hotels. The 
reason I never heard explained. 

Arriving at the depot, we found it as deserted as a 
last year's bird's-nest. It lacked but fifteen minutes of 
train time, and as the minutes flew by our uneasiness in- 
creased in proportion. At last an official made his appear- 
ance, to whom I explained, by holding up two fingers and 
saying " Bombay," the nature of our desires. Every 
thing was satisfactory, and soon we were seated in the 
train, moving at a reasonably rapid rate toward the 
sea-shore. 

This road, running from Toondla Junction, on the 
East Indian Railway, to Ahmedabad, near the Gulf of 
Cutch, an inlet of the Arabian Sea, was built within the' 
past few years by the Rajah of Rajpootana, wholly at his 
individual expense. It is a narrow gauge, but seems to- 
answer the demands of a limited traffic very satisfactorily. 
In our route over the level plain we saw vast quantities 
of birds and game, such as storks, cranes, parrots, peacocks, 
monkeys, wolves, jackals, and a variety of two and four 
legged creatures whose names or species were unknown to us. 
There were also to be seen myriads of Indian buffalo, and 
numerous caravans of camels on their way north to Afghan- 
istan, Persia, and the Caspian Sea. The country, most of 

19 



290 WHAT I SAW, 

the way, is flat, and produces large crops of wheat, castor 
beans, mustard and tobacco. 

This part of India, a few years since, suffered greatly 
from famine, the deaths being numbered by thousands. 
No person who becomes even cursorily acquainted with 
the customs, habits, and jn-ejudices of the people can feel 
the least surprise. Wild game is everywhere plenty, but 
these people would rather starve than eat flesh. Every- 
where in India the monkey is held sacred, and so absorb- 
ing is the bigotry of the natives that while they were suf- 
fering for a mouthful of food they would look complacently 
upon these pestiferous little animals feeding upon their 
crops. With the acquisition of this knowledge concerning 
the wastage of the crops and the omnipresence of game, 
the last vestige of our sympathy for the victims of famine 
in India departed. A people who will permit their re- 
ligious prejudices to lead them into starvation are not 
entitled to the sympathies of any body. 

In this connection, at the risk of being considered 
prolix, I am tempted to wander off into a perhaps not 
profound but certainly very reasonable disquisition upon 
the gracious charity that begins at home. But I forbear, 
simply reminding the contributors to the foreign mission 
fund that we really have not enough gospel at home to go 
around, and our first duty is to properly feed and instruct 
the heathen within the confines of our own country. 

We saw men and women working on a new railroad. 
There does not seem to be any " weaker sex " in India, 
as the women of the lower caste labor in the fields, and 
perform similar tasks with as great regularity as the men. 
They mingle in the gangs, and I suppose exchange ribald 
jokes and stories. The railroad workers carried the dirt 
in baskets, just as was done by laborers two thousand 
years ago. These women, notwithstanding they were en- 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 291 

gaged in such a menial occupation, wore jewelry, in the 
form of rings in the nose and ears, and bracelets on their 
arms and legs, to the value of hundreds of dollars. The 
inexorable duties of a Hindoo are — first, to worship his 
god, and second, to devote him or herself to the acquisition 
of jewelry with which to ornament the person. It may not 
be necessary for me to call attention to the fact that the 
latter failing is not confined by any means to this side of 
the earth. In more fully civilized countries than India it 
is followed with a zeal that almost entirely excludes the 
former from consideration. 

We remained at the town of Ahmedabad, waiting for 
a train, about four hours, at the end of which time we 
were taken by a connecting line to Baroda, a few miles 
further on, at which point another change was made to 
the road for Bombay. This railroad skirts the shore of 
the Arabian Sea from that point to Bombay, a distance 
of about four hundred miles. 

To-day, Thursday, January 5th, we arrived at Bombay. 
It is twenty-four days since we landed at Calcutta, and 
we have not lost an hour by lingering over novelties that 
surrounded us on every side. Although we think we 
have " done " India pretty thoroughly, yet there are 
myriads of novel scenes that we have not seen ; all could 
not be included in a tour of less than a month, and we 
endeavor to satisfy ourselves by the reflection that our 
trip has included the most attractive. 

Every species of labor throughout India is conducted 
in the most primitive manner. For instance, I do not 
suppose there is a pump in the entire empire. The wells 
are numerous and deep, and the water pure, but it is uni- 
versally drawn to the surface in buckets — bullocks usually 
being the power employed. All brick are made by hand, 
and I doubt whether the idea that they could be manu- 



292 WHAT I SAW, 

factured in any other way ever dawned upon Hindoo 

mind. There are perhaps reasons for this, aside from the 
inability of the natives to appreciate the utility of labor- 
saving machinery. The first is found in the fact that 
native labor is cheaper than mechanical appliances, and 
this creates no demand for machinery. For instance, in 
the manufacture of brick, the purchase and operation of a 
machine that would turn out ten thousand per day would 
cost the manufacturer more than the hire of a sufficient 
number of natives to accomplish the same result. Another 
theory I have heard in explanation of the Hindoos being 
tardy about introducing labor-saving mechanism. India 
has an immense population to sustain — so dense that people 
who have never visited the country can form but little 
conception of it. This population must live in some way. 
They will not starve, at least not willingly, and the intro- 
duction of labor-saving machinery would lessen the de- 
mand for manual labor, and throw myriads of natives 
into lives of beggary or crime. A large proportion of 
them are already beggars or criminals, but it is contended 
that the numbers would be largely increased by the intro- 
duction of mechanical appliances for performing labor. 
Again, there are no farms in India, as we Americans 
understand the word. There are none to be seen in any 
part of the country which we visited that would not be 
classed as a "truck jmtch" in America. Consequently 
self-binding reapers, revolving clod-crushers, etc., could 
not be used to advantage. It is also doubtful if any better 
results could be obtained than under the present primitive 
system. Owing to the dense population and the necessity 
for utilizing each square foot of the land, every portion is 
farmed to its utmost capacity. The means adopted are very 
crude, but the result secured is greater than upon the Amer- 
ican farms where labor-saving machinery is employed. 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 293 

Notwithstanding the prevalence of cholera at different 
points in India, and particularly at Bombay, we retain 
our usual health, neither of us having been sick an hour 
since leaving home. 

Our tour of 2,700 miles in India closes here, and a 
few days hence we bid farewell to the Orient. Since the 
construction of the Suez Canal this city has become the 
"gate of India," superseding Calcutta. It is the most 
European like, the most thoroughly cosmopolitan, of the 
cities we have visited. Like Singapore, the natives of 
every part of the world gather at Bombay and mingle in 
one busy, energetic struggle for that ignis fatuus of life — 
success. The city stands upon an island, a fact that escapes 
the first observation of the traveler. The total population 
is estimated at more than a million, composed largely of 
Europeans, with a sprinkling of Americans. Here, per- 
haps to a greater extent than elsewhere in the East, the 
natives compete with the Caucasians in commerce and 
trade, and many of the Hindoos and Parsees are im- 
mensely wealthy, the result of an enterprise and shrewd- 
ness that is comparatively unknown elsewhere. Many of 
the natives of Calcutta, Benares, Lucknow, and other 
places, are possessed of great wealth, but it is not the 
result of successful trade. 

The name Bombay is a corruption of the Portuguese 
Buon Bahia, meaning good harbor, a term that is not be- 
lied by the safe haven for vessels which the roadstead 
provides. The city is one of the oldest of the British 
possessions in the East. The natives are not only engaged 
largely in trade, but they have adopted to a great extent 
the customs of civilized countries. This is noticeable in the 
almost entire absence of the architectural features that 
distinguish in other places the residences of the Hindoos. 
In Bombay it is difficult to tell the homes of the wealth) 7 



294 WHAT I SAW, 

natives from those of Europeans. Many of these natives 
aspire to and secure positions under the government, 
several being members of the Legislative Council. 

Outside of the Europeans, the wealth, commerce, and 
trade of Bombay is largely in the hands of the Parsees, a 
peculiar sect who were not native Hindoos originally. 
History assigns them to Persia. They are the disciples 
of Zoroaster, and are known as "fire-worshipers." The 
sect is still quite numerous in Persia, from whence 
those now resident in western India emigrated about the 
seventh century. The Parsees are universally well edu- 
cated, wealthy, and singularly pure in their personal habits 
and family relations. With them the worship of idols is 
prohibited, though they venerate the sun and fire as the 
emblems of divine power. Celibacy they consider dis- 
pleasing to God, but polygamy is not tolerated. They 
have their temples or houses of worship, but they are de- 
void of the tawdry ornamentation and beastly practices 
that distinguish the shrines of the Brahmins and Buddhists. 
Almost the only distinguishing feature of a Parsee place of 
worship is an altar, on which is kept burning a sacred fire, 
which is never allowed to become extinguished, and which 
is fed by spices and other aromatic woods. Their religion 
enjoins charity, hospitality, honesty, industry, and obedi- 
ence to constituted authority; and forbids anger, hatred, 
envy, quarreling, and every species of licentiousness. As 
a consequence, the Parsees are universally good citizens, 
and would be an acquisition to any country. 

Outside the city itself, which presents few novelties, 
there are but two sights in the vicinity of Bombay calcu- 
lated to especially attract the attention of the traveler — 
the "Tower of Silence" or Parsee funeral pile, and the 
Elephantine Temple. The former is located about four 
miles from the city, on Malabar Hill, in the midst of a 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 295 

dense grove of palms. The tower rises above the trees, 
and resembles nothing more than a huge gasometer or 
"stand-pipe" for water-works. We approached the spot 
in a carriage and mounted the steps leading to the tower, 
passing through an arched gateway and entering a pretty 
garden of plants and trees. The strict rules of the Parsees 
forbid entrance, but a combination of American ingenuity, 
" cheek," and British gold secured us the favor. The 
tower is roofless, and at the bottom is located a large 
grating, upon which the body of the deceased is placed, 
being pushed through a small door at the side. There it 
is allowed to remain until the flesh is all picked from the 
bones by the ever waiting vultures, a process which does 
not occupy more than twenty minutes. The osseous re- 
mains are then collected by the friends and passed through 
a chemical process which entirely destroys them. The 
mourners stay in the temple just inside the front gate, 
and engage in prayers while the deceased is being con- 
sumed by the vultures. No one is permitted to witness 
the horrid work of the birds, and not a word is spoken 
during the time the funeral cortege remains at the tower. 
All the mourners are dressed in pure white. While we 
were there, there was not the slightest offensive odor ap- 
parent. We saw hundreds of the vultures sitting on the 
apex of the tower or circling in the air over head, appar- 
ently well satisfied with their breakfast, which had just 
been served them. These funeral services occur only in 
the morning or evening. 

We went to visit the celebrated cave of idols on Ele- 
phanta Island, some ten miles from the city. From the 
landing we ascended an easy flight of steps to a spacious 
plateau, more than a hundred feet above the level of the 
sea. This is shaded by groups of palm trees, as, in fact, 
is the entire island. The face of the middle of three 



296 WHAT 1 SAW, 

mountains is cut down perpendicularly, presenting a front 
of smooth, hard blue rock. Into this is cut a subter- 
ranean temple, wonderful as a work of art, accomplished 
ages ago, before gunpowder, dynamite, or nitro-glyceriue 
had been dreamed of. The temple is about one hun- 
dred feet wide and three hundred deep, the vaulted roof 
being supported by pillars left by the workmen in their 
excavations. There are a great many of these, and all 
are about four feet in diameter and twenty-seven feet high. 
All are elaborately carved. Every detail of the four 
chambers into which it is divided is complete, and so 
thorough is the work done that it is difficult to realize 
that every thing is carved from the undisturbed rock. 
The floor is as smooth and level as it could be made. 

Standing just within the entrance the visitor confronts 
the further wall, distant about three hundred feet. Here 
is a colossal image, or rather three images combined, rep- 
resenting Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. The first, as the 
creative power, has a calm, contemplative expression ; the 
second, being the preservative power, rests supinely upon 
a bed of lotus flowers, and the third, being the goddess 
of destruction, holds in one hand a drawn sword and in 
the other a reptile. Each of these figures is about twice 
the size of the human form. Surrounding the group is a 
miscellaneous collection of minor deities. These stand in 
a recess, or niche, the ceiling of which is ornamented with 
a group of what might be called angels, but as the Brah- 
min theology does not recognize this winged subdivision 
of transformed souls, T can not tell what they are intended 
to represent. On each of the sides of this principal room 
is a varied collection of images and allegorical representa- 
tions, the purport of which is far beyond my comprehen- 
sion. The two smaller apartments are not completed. 
The entrance is so arranged that at certain hours of the 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 297 

day the rays of the sun pour in and flood the temple with 
a brilliant light that exposes every niche and corner, pro- 
ducing an effect at once grand and weird. 

This temple, were it erected as are others thoughout 
India, would perhaps not be worthy special attention, but 
when it is remembered that it is all, including the images, 
cut from the solid, undisturbed native rock, it becomes 
one of the wonders of the world. Tradition rather than 
history assigns the excavation to the seventh century, while 
other not less trustworthy traditions speak of it as early 
as the fourth century. What a world of patient, persist- 
ent labor is represented in the work. Every part had to 
be done by hand, and with tools the most crude. It is 
the one temple that, unless disturbed by earthquakes, will 
endure forever. It is free from the destructive effects of 
the elements, though in some parts disfigured by human 
hands. History relates that the fanatical Portuguese en- 
deavored to destroy it, and for the purpose fired cannon 
loaded with solid shot into it, but the effect was but to 
slightly disfigure it in some parts. 

Our hotel accommodations here are excellent. We are 
located at the Hambleton. It is situated in the center of 
a four-acre tract or park, nicely shaded, and embellished 
Avith beds of flowers, and as comfortable a place for whiling 
away the hours as one would care to find. A veranda 
surrounds the house at both stories, and we were fortu- 
nate enough to secure that goal of all hotel guests, a 
corner room. 

The English residents of Bombay are, as elsewhere in 
the East, regular patrons of the bar. They call their 
drinks " pegs," perhaps in imitation of the American say- 
ing so often heard in bar-rooms, " one more nail in my 
coffin," and it is nothing unusual to hear an Englishman 
boast of having absorbed ten "pegs" during the day. I 



298 WHAT I SAW, 

should think that each one would represent a score of nails 
in the coffin of the consumer, for certainly a more vile 
decoction was never compounded by human hands. It 
tastes as if distilled from a combination of pine boughs 
and old boots. 

They have here what they call American coal oil. 
The people do not drink it, but I verily believe they 
would if it were labeled brandy or whisky. The oil might 
as well be drank, for certainly it is almost useless as a 
burning fluid. It is apparently oil that is considered unfit 
for use at home. 

About the only accommodations we have found in 
India that Avere not either inferior in quality or exor- 
bitant in price are the hotels. They are universally good, 
and their charges range from two dollars to two dollars 
and twenty-five cents per day. The eating houses are ex- 
orbitant in their charges and correspondingly deficient in 
excellence. The railroads are universally incomplete in 
their accommodations. Even the first-class carriages are 
poor affairs. Sleeping-cars are unknown, and the miser- 
able box-like concerns, the designs of which are borrowed 
from England, are as wretched contrivances as can be 
imagined, being devised apparently by a studied effort to 
render the unhappy passenger uncomfortable. The charges 
are three, two, and one cent per mile. After speaking of 
the deficient accommodations of the first-class cars, I leave 
the reader to imagine the discomfort of those who patron- 
ize the third-class. 

Much of our stay in Bombay has been devoted to re- 
grets over the unfortunate state of affairs that will cause 
a change in our programme. The authorities of Egypt 
have notified the officials of India that, owing to the prev- 
alence of the cholera in this country, no passengers from 
India will be permitted to land in Egypt. This decree is 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 299 

inexorable, and as a consequence the most interesting part 
of our tour will have to be omitted. This omission will 
include the trip up the Nile, the tour through the Holy 
Land, the visit to Constantinople, and the sight-seeing 
among the classical scenes and ruins of ancient Greece. 
This is a serious, almost an overwhelming disappointment, 
but it must be endured with as much equanimity as possi- 
ble. The Egyptians will, perhaps, be kind enough to allow 
us to look upon their country as we pass through the Suez 
canal, Avhich is very considerate of them. As a conse- 
quence, we will sail directly from Bombay to some un- 
certain point in Italy. There we might remain until we 
had become fumigated and deodorized to an extent com- 
mensurate with the aesthetic tastes of the hypercritical 
Egyptians, but it would then be too late, by reason of the 
advanced season, to go up the Nile. The only satisfaction 
we can find will be in making a hurried tour of Europe 
and return home about the 20th of March, with the full 
determination to return next Winter and leisurely fill in 
the omitted part of our programme. 



300 WHAT I SAW, 



XXV. 

The Hindoos as a People — Their Social Customs — Religious Be- 
liefs and Ceremonials — Self-inflicted Tortures and Sacri- 
fices. 

Bombay, India, January 10, 1882. 

Having passed hurriedly through India, from Calcutta 
to Benares, Delhi, Jeypoor, and to this point, a necessarily 
incomplete tour, I have been impressed by many interesting 
views of the social and religious life of the natives. The 
inhabitants of India are apparently of various and greatly 
dissimilar races, differing materially in stature, complexion, 
manners, language, religion, and general character. The 
mountaineers of the North, like all residents of a hilly 
country, are large, muscular, and hardy, while the inhab- 
itants of the plains are of inferior stature and muscular 
development. In complexion, they vary from a very dark 
olive, nearly approaching black, to a light, transparent 
brown, such as may be found in the south of France and 
in Spain. Among the children and adults below the age 
of twenty-five, the features are usually regular, and some 
rare types of physical beauty are found. The girls are 
fully developed women at the age of eleven, and frequently 
become mothers before they are twelve. It is an inexorable 
law of nature that the fruit which ripens earliest soonest 
decays, and a Hindoo woman of thirty retains none of the 
physical qualities that rendered her attractive twenty years 
previous. Old women in appearance are abundant in 
India; old women in years are rare. All classes of na- 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 301 

tives, as I have before narrated, are very fond of orna- 
ments, yet the dress is exceedingly simple. The children 
wear no clothing whatever, until they are from five to 
eight years of age, but they are frequently decorated with 
ornaments and jewels of considerable value. 

The Hindoos are almost universally strict vegetarians, 
and I do not remember ever to have seen one eat a mouth- 
ful of flesh. The use of animal food is denied them by 
their religion, unless, as it is said, the animal has first been 
sacrificed to one of the idols. It may be that such is the 
case, and the assertion is made by writers on India, much 
more capable than myself, but the consumption of animal 
food by the Hindoos, under any circumstances, never came 
within the scope of my observation. The reader will 
please understand that in this connection I refer only to 
the Brahmins, who compose nine-tenths of the people of 
India. The wife never eats with her husband, but waits 
upon him in the capacity of a servant and satisfies her 
craving upon such remnants as his appetite did not demand. 
At their meals they use neither tables, chairs, knives, 
forks, or spoons. They sit upon the floor, and carry the 
food to the mouth with the fingers of the right hand, it 
first having been dipped by the same useful members from 
a common pot or other receptacle. They take their drink 
from a cup, usually of brass, but are, for some reason, 
careful that the cup shall not touch their lips. The liquid 
is poured into the mouth. 

The use of distilled or fermented liquors is rare. For- 
merly such stimulants were indulged in only by the lower 
castes, but I regret to say that this habit, together with 
other pernicious concomitants of civilization, is not so un- 
usual as it used to be. I never, however, during the 
month spent in India, saw a native under the influence of 
liquor. I wish I could truthfully say as much for the 



302 WHAT I SAW, 

foreign population. The use of tobacco is almost uni- 
versal. Every body smokes, and consumes the vilest va- 
rieties of the weed that can be obtained. The natives 
have a substitute for chewing-tobacco that is, if possible, 
more filthy than the weed itself. It is the betel nut, and 
its use, which is confined to neither sex, produces a dis- 
coloration of the lips and teeth that is positively hideous 
and disgusting. 

Most of the native dwellings are simple rude huts, 
about eighteen feet in length and a little more than half 
as wide. The walls are built of mud, and the roof is 
usually thatched with straw or palm leaves. In the cities 
and larger villages, however, the necessity of protection 
from fire compels a more substantial covering, and tile is 
substituted. The cost of these mud huts varies from five 
to thirty dollars, according to the pecuniary condition of 
the builder. This looks like a pitifully meager sum to 
expend upon a dwelling, but it must be remembered that, 
notwithstanding the vast wealth and luxurious ease of the 
nabobs, India is distinctively a land of poverty, and the 
figures I have given often represent the savings of the 
wretched owner for years. Not more than one dwelling in 
a thousand is constructed of more substantial material 
than that I have named. Occasionally, in the cities, dwell- 
ings will be seen constructed of brick, and these are 
sometimes (but not often) as much as three stories in 
height, and always with flat roofs. All have a peculiarly 
prison-like appearance, for the reason that but few windows 
open upon the street. The houses are built around an 
inner court, of greater or less dimensions, and this court, 
among the wealthy classes, is usually embellished with 
flowering plants, trees, tasteful walks, and fountains. Most 
of the windows open upon this. In nothing is the Hin- 
doo distaste for progress more fully exemplified than in 



AND HO W 1 SA W IT. 303 

this peculiar construction of their dwellings. They are 
of the design of a thousand years ago, when every man's 
house was literally his castle, which he was frequently 
called upon to defend against his enemies. In some re- 
gards these houses are frequently what they appear — 
prisons ; for within their walls the female members of the 
family are as zealously confined as criminals. Such is the 
jealousy of the husbands that they are seldom seen upon 
the streets, and never in public assemblages. This seclusion 
of the women is, however, peculiar to the higher class. 
Among the common people, women are literally beasts of 
burden, and work in the fields, carry produce to market, 
and perform many other duties which scarcely comport 
with the usually accepted theory of civilization, that they 
are the weaker sex. 

In some of the best houses in the cities is a small 
room devoted wholly to religious purposes, where is 
erected an altar, upon which rest the family's collection 
of idols, formed usually of silver or brass. The para- 
phernalia of worship is somewhat elaborate, composed of 
a large and a small conch-shell, the former for sounding 
like a horn and the latter for ladling water whenever the 
worshiper fancies that his gods are in need of ablution. 
In addition to these there are one large and one small 
boat-shaped copper vessel, two or three brass plates, a bell, 
a drum, cymbals and a five-branched candlestick. The 
uses of these things are very obscure, but one would sup- 
pose that most of them were devoted to making a noise, 
that blessed refuge of all idolaters, who hope thus to 
frighten away the evil spirits. I do not know what may 
be the disposition of the spirits, but it seems to me that 
it would require the pertinacity of a demon to withstand 
the horrid din of a combination of these nerve-rasping 
instruments of auricular torture. Each member of the 



304 WHAT I SAW, 

family is expected to repair morning and evening to this 
sanctuary to offer up his petitions, and to propitiate in 
every way the gods. Attached to this apartment is a 
bath-room, where those who are unable to reach the holy 
waters of the Ganges can perform their soul-saving ablu- 
tions. The water used is usually from the holy river, 
and, as it is not at all times possible to secure a fresh sup- 
ply, I am told that the same water is frequently utilized 
continuously by the different members of the family for 
months. 

Should a foreigner ask a native Hindoo why certain 
duties are performed in so primitive a manner, the reply 
would be, " It is our custom." There is the secret of 
much of the lack of progress among the natives of India. 
For ages they have venerated these customs, and are un- 
willing to learn the more improved methods. Since my 
sojourn in the country, I heard an amusing anecdote of 
this indisposition among the natives to recognize the util- 
ity of improvements and avail themselves of them. A 
foreigner had taken a contract to build a part of a line 
of railroad, and in the grading employed a multitude of 
natives. Here the laborers engaged in such work carry 
the dirt in baskets balanced on their heads. The con- 
tractor, desiring to lighten the labor and facilitate the 
work, conceived the idea of providing wheelbarrows. He 
procured a supply and the natives apparently took kindly 
to the innovation and admitted that it was an improve- 
ment. Judge of the astonishment of the contractor when 
he returned a few hours later and found his laborers filling 
the barrows with earth and carrying them on their heads 
to the place of deposit. 

With the exception of those sections which have long 
enjoyed the security of British protection, the rural popu- 
lation of India largely reside in villages, which are simply 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 305 

a collection of rude huts, thrown together in the most 
promiscuous manner possible, without regard to conven- 
ience, ventilation, or any thing else that in civilized coun- 
tries is considered essential. The whole is surrounded 
by a mud wall, that might possibly be an insurmountable 
obstacle to a sick jackal, The government is patriarchal 
in its nature. Each village has its head man, watchman, 
and tax gatherer, and there the poor creatures exist, happy 
perhaps in the knowledge that they are living just as their 
fathers did three thousand years ago. Every family be- 
longing to the village has its own specific occupation or 
particular office, entailed for generations. The land culti- 
vated is regarded as the property of the supreme govern- 
ment, for which a rent is paid in kind, amounting to 
nearly half of the crop. The lands seldom change occu- 
pants, and there are doubtless living in India to-day fami- 
lies whose progenitors occupied the same spot of ground 
a thousand years ago. Revolutions disturb them not in 
the least. The only change in their routine it produces is 
in the parties to whom their taxes are to be paid. 

The writer who endeavors to speak of the religions 
of India in detail assumes a task whose discouraging di- 
mensions he will appreciate as he progresses. The relig- 
ious systems of the Brahmins are contained in a great 
number of books known as Shasters, and are as mythical, 
obscure, and absurd as the most fertile imagination could 
devise. Many of these books have been handed down 
from generation to generation for thousands of years. 
They are written, it is said, in Sanskrit, some with ink 
and a reed pen on paper of native manufacture, and others 
with the point of an iron stylus, on palm leaf. A palm 
leaf volume of ordinary size is about eighteen inches in 
length, two in width, and four in thickness. The style of 

binding adopted is very primitive. Through each leaf a 

20 



306 WHAT I SAW, 

hole is pierced, and the leaves are filed upon a string 
much as the sport-loving urchin collects his Sunday after- 
noon catch of sunfish. This preserves the leaves from 
loss, and the work is as sacred to the Hindoo Brahmins 
as is the gilt-edged, gold-clasped Bible to the Christians. 
The number of these volumes is almost unlimited. One 
poem contains four hundred thousand lines, or sufficient 
of itself to fill ten books of a thousand pages each. 

The subjects treated of in these books are numerous, 
and form not only the religious precepts, ceremonials, 
etc., of the Brahmins, but the rules governing the family 
relations, amusements, health, the healing art, music, as- 
tronomy, geography, etc. The earth, according to the 
teachings of the Shasters, which every true Brahmin be- 
lieves to be of divine origin, is a circular plain, with a 
circumference of some four hundred millions of miles. It 
is borne on the backs of eight huge elephants, the ele- 
phants stand upon the back of an immense tortoise, and 
the tortoise rests uj)on a prodigious thousand-headed 
serpent. What supports the snake is not stated. When- 
ever this reptile becomes drowsy and nods, the equilibrium 
of mundane matters is disturbed, and we have earthquakes. 
On such occasions, the people rush out of their houses, 
beating drums, shouting, and by other equally hideous 
sounds seeking to arouse his drowsy snakeship. The 
Brahmin geography, as taught by the Shasters, is no less 
unique. The} r claim that the earth consists of seven con- 
centric oceans and an equal number of continents; that 
they are arranged alternately around a common center. 
The first ocean, the one nearest the center, is composed of 
salt water ; the second, of milk ; the third, of the curds of 
milk; the fourth, of melted butter; the fifth, of juice of the 
sugar cane ; the sixth, of wine ; and the seventh, of fresh 
water. Beyond the seventh ocean, is a land of pure gold, 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 307 

but inaccessible to man ; and far beyond that extends the 
land of darkness, containing places of torment for the 
wicked. The continent at the center of the earth is a 
circular plain two hundred and fifty thousand miles in 
diameter. From its center arises a mountain composed 
entirely of gold and precious stones, to the height of six 
hundred thousand miles. Unlike other mountains, it is the 
largest at the top, and is crowned by three summits, where 
are seated the three gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, 
j^ear these summits are located the inferior gods, one of 
whom is described as eight hundred miles in circumference 
and forty miles in height — a right smart chance of a god 
to be catalogued with the inferior deities. At the foot of 
this principal mountain are three smaller elevations, and 
on the top of each grows a mango tree, eight thousand 
eight hundred miles high. Such an arboreal giant as that 
must overshadow the big trees of California, with several 
feet to spare. These trees bear fruit several hundred feet 
in diameter, and as delicious as nectar. When it falls to 
the ground, juice exudes from it, whose spicy fragrance 
perfumes the air, and those who eat thereof diffuse a most 
agreeable odor many miles around. The rose-apple tree 
also grows on these mountains, the fruit of which is as 
large as an elephant, and so full of juice that at maturity 
it flows along in a stream, and whatever object it touches 
in its course is turned into pure gold.* 

This is but a specimen of the absurdities and extrava- 
gance that pervade every part of the Hindoo faith. There 
are comparatively intelligent Hindoos who recognize the 
ridiculous features of such teachings, but there are mill- 
ions of natives who have implicit faith in every line of 
the Shasters. 

Elsewhere I have spoken of the four castes into which 

* Brainerd's " Life in India." 



308 WHAT I SAW, 

the Brahmins are divided. These, from various causes, 
have been subdivided into more than two hundred dis- 
tinct classes.' If one of the high caste violates the rules 
of his class, he can not receive an honorable dismissal and 
retire to one of the lower degrees. He becomes an out- 
cast, and is not recognized even by the inferior castes. 
These laws are immutable, and a person born in one of 
the lower castes can never aspire to rise. It is not looked 
upon as an offense for which the individual is responsible, 
but as a misfortune dcreed by the gods. The difference 
between the higher and the lower castes is immeasurably 
great, but the lowest caste is far superior to the Pariahs, 
a race who are not regarded as having any caste whatever, 
and are, I believe, those who have forfeited their caste in 
the higher divisions. When walking the streets they 
must keep on the side opposite the sun, lest their filthy 
shadows fall on the consecrated Brahmin. These divisions 
would fill the soul of an American aristocrat with glad- 
ness, only that in India caste is not, as with Americans, 
dependent upon wealth. The high caste Brahmin will 
not touch nor allow himself to be touched by a country- 
man of lower caste, and will die before accepting necessary 
attentions from him. The reader may ask how they are 
able to distinguish the castes at a glance. All trouble in 
that regard is obviated by a red mark on the forehead, 
which is of different form for each caste, and is renewed 
every morning. 

Some one has said that religion is the basis of all 
morals, and that neither nations nor individuals can aim 
at a greater purity than their religion requires. The 
Hindoo gods and goddesses are extremely vicious, and it 
could not be expected that their worshipers should rise 
above them. The grossness and pollution of these gods 
and the images chosen by the worshipers to represent them 



AND HO W 1 SA W IT. 309 

are almost beyond the conception of civilized people. The 
attributes of the gods and goddesses are wholly horrible, 
and they are supposed to be in a constant state of dis- 
pleasure, demanding appeasement. The images formed to 
represent these deities, and in which the god worshiped is 
supposed to abide after consecration, are often imitations 
of the most disgustingly obscene objects, and the Brahmins 
venerate them religiously. One of these gods is called 
Siva, and he is usually represented with eight arms and 
three eyes, one in the center of the forehead, and the 
body decorated by a serpent which is raising its head 
over his right shoulder. With one foot he is crushing an 
enemy ; with one of his hands he is tossing a human vic- 
tim on the points of a trident; in a third he holds a 
drum, in a fourth an ax, in a fifth a sword, and in a sixth 
a club, on which is a human head. What a cheerful, 
genial object that must be to worship ! He is pleasant 
and innocent in appearance, however, compared with 
his wife, Kali, elsewhere described. She is represented 
as a woman of dark blue color, with four arms, in 
the act of trampling under her foot her prostrate and 
supplicating husband. In one hand she holds the bloody 
head of a giant, and in another an exterminating sword. 
Her long, disheveled hair reaches to her feet; her tongue 
protrudes from her distorted mouth, and her lips, eye- 
brows, and breast are stained with the blood of the vic- 
tims of her fury, whom she is supposed to devour by 
thousands. Her ear ornaments are human carcasses. The 
girdle about her waist consists of the bloody hands of 
giants slain by her, and her necklace is composed of their 
skulls. This monster is one of the most popular objects of 
Hindoo worship. She calls forth the shouts, acclamations, 
and free-will offerings of thousands of infatuated wor- 
shipers, and her temples are constantly drenched with the 



310 WHAT I SAW, 

blood of victims; even human victims are occasionally 
sacrificed to her.* 

The following description of a festival in honor of the 
two deities I have described, is from the pen of Rev. Dr. 
Duff: 

"An upright pole, twenty or thirty feet in height, is 
planted in the ground. Across the top of it, moving 
freely on a pivot, is placed horizontally another long pole. 
From one end of this transverse beam is a rope suspended, 
with two hooks affixed to it. To the other extremity is 
fastened another rope, which hangs loosely toward the 
ground. The devotee comes forward and prostrates him- 
self in the dust. The hooks are then run through the 
fleshy parts of his back near the shoulders. A party 
holding the rope at the other end immediately begins to 
run around with considerable velocity. By this means 
the wretched dupe of superstition is hoisted aloft into the 
air and violently whirled round and round. This being 
regarded one of the holiest of acts, the longer he can en- 
dure the torture the greater the pleasure conveyed to the 
deity, whom he serves, and consequently the brighter the 
prospect of future reward. The time usually occupied aver- 
ages from ten minutes to half an hour; and as soon as one 
has ended another candidate is ready, aspiring to earn the 
like merit and distinction. On one tree from five to ten 
or fifteen may be swung in the course of a day. Of these 
swinging posts there are hundreds and thousands simul- 
taneously in operation in the province of Bengal. They 
are always erected in the most conspicuous parts of the 
towns and villages, and are surrounded by vast crowds of 
noisy spectators. On the very streets of the native city 
of Calcutta many of these horrid swings are annually to 
be seen, and scores around the suburbs. It not unfre- 

* Brainerd's "Life in India." 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 311 

quently happens that from the extreme rapidity of the 
motion, the ligaments of the back give way, and the de- 
votee is thrown to a distance and dashed to pieces. In- 
stead of sympathy or compassion, a feeling of detestation 
and abhorrence is excited towards him. By the principles 
of their faith, he is adjudged to have been a desperate 
criminal in a former state of being ; and he has now met 
with this violent death in the present birth as a righteous 
retribution, on account of egregious sins committed in a 
former. 

"The evening of the same day is. devoted to another 
practice almost equally cruel. It consists in the devotees 
throwing themselves down from a high wall, the second 
story of a house, or a temporary scaffolding, often twenty 
or thirty feet in height, upon iron spikes or knives that 
are thickly stuck in a large bag or mattress of straw. 
But these sharp instruments being fixed rather loosely 
and in a position sloping forward, the greater part of the 
thousands that fall upon them dextrously contrive to es- 
cape without serious damage. At night numbers of the 
devotees sit down in the open air and pierce the skin of 
their foreheads; and in it, as a socket, place a small rod 
of iron to which is suspended a lamp that is kept burn- 
ing until the dawn of day, while the lamp-bearers rehearse 
the praises of their favorite deity. Before the temple 
bundles of thorns and other firewood are accumulated, 
among which the devotees roll themselves uncovered. 
The materials are next raised into a pile and set on fire. 
Then the devotees briskly dance over the blazing embers, 
and with their naked hands hurl them into the air and at 
each other. Some have their breasts, arms, and other 
parts stuck entirely full of pins about the thickness of 
small nails or packing needles. Others betake themselves 
to a vertical wheel, twenty or thirty feet in diameter, and 



312 WHAT 1 SAW, 

raised occasionally above the ground. They bind them- 
selves to the outer rim in a sitting posture, so that when 
the wheel rolls round their heads point alternately to the 
zenith and the nadir. But it were endless to pursue the 
diversity of these self-inflicted cruelties into all their de- 
tails. There is one, however, of so very singular a char- 
acter that it must not be left unnoticed. Some of these 
deluded votaries enter into a vow. With one hand they 
cover their under lips with a layer of wet earth or mud ; 
on this with the other hand they deposit some small 
grains, usually of mustard seed. They then stretch them- 
selves flat on their backs, exposed to the dripping dews 
of night and the blazing sun by day. And their vow is that 
from that fixed position they will not stir — will neither 
move nor eat nor drink, nor turn till the seeds planted on 
the lips begin to germinate. This vegetable process usu- 
ally takes place on the third or fourth day, after which, 
being released from their vow, they arise, as they dotingly 
imagine and believe, laden with a vast accession of holi- 
ness and supererogatory merit." 

Thanks to the civilizing influence of the English, who 
have positively forbidden such inhumanities, festivals like 
that described by Dr. Duff are no longer observed in that 
part of India under her majesty's control. I have been as- 
sured, however, that in some parts, removed from British 
surveillance, all these horrid barbarities are still practiced. 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 313 



XXVI. 

Farewell to India — Sail for Egypt — On the Arabian Sea — Re- 
ligious Services at Sea — Arrival at Aden — Through the Red 
Sea — The Suez Canal — The Land of Promise Forbidden to 
the Tourists — Arrival at Brindisi. 

Steamer " Bokara," ) 

Between Bombay and Europe. } 

We left Bombay at 6 P. M. on the 12th, and bid adieu 
to India, its pleasures and pains, its wonderful sights and 
torrid heat. In this connection, and while enjoying our 
last voyage previous to crossing the Atlantic from Liver- 
pool to New York, I desire to add our mite to the uni- 
versal commendation of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam- 
ship Company, whose vessels have carried us all the way 
from China. They are staunch, conveniently arranged 
steamers, manned by officers who are complete gentlemen, 
taking genuine pleasure in adding to the comfort of their 
passengers. Their vessels have been our home at different 
times for many weeks, and there has never been the slight- 
est deviation from the accommodating spirit that prevails. 

I am writing this paragraph on the Arabian Sea, five 
hundred miles west of Bombay, and we are rapidly nearing 
the end of our third quarter in the trip around the world. 
We passed the antipode of home in the Bay of Bengal 
soon after leaving Penang, and are now more than three 
thousand miles west of that point, which places us nearly 
opposite San Francisco. We are indeed a " long w r ay 
from home," but are beginning to feel that we are home- 



314 WHAT I SAW, 

ward bound. The sea is a little rough, and my worthy 
companion, for the first time, is suffering some from sea- 
sickness. As for myself, I am endeavoring to sustain the 
acquired reputation of being a " staunch sailor," but how 
long it may last I do not know. Mrs. Converse is not 
happy. I have no idea that seasickness is usually con- 
ducive to happiness, but I fancy that her mental equilib- 
rium would be more fully sustained if I too was a victim 
of the dreaded mal de mer. Misery loves company, you 
know, and in addition to that, I fancy she is consumed by 
a curiosity to know how I would conduct myself under a 
well-defined attack of seasickness. 

To-day (the 14th) we had an alarm of fire, but for- 
tunately it was only an alarm, given for the purpose of 
drilling the crew in case of a genuine outbreak. In an 
instant every man was at his post; the decks were almost 
instantaneously flooded with water ; the life-boats were 
lowered, provisioned, and provided with water — every 
thing so quickly as to give the passengers great confidence 
in their preservation should a fire break out. The very 
thoughts, however, of being cast out upon the Arabian 
Sea, in an open boat, with the nearest land several hun- 
dred miles away and peopled with savage Arabs, make 
one shudder for the possibilities. 

Sunday, January 15th. — To-day we had divine service 
on board, in accordance with the ritual of the Church of 
England. Such machine religion does not fill our ideas of 
fitness. We can not bring: ourselves to think that the 
prayer which is read from a book, in accord with a formula 
prepared, is the prayer that comes from the heart. In our 
wanderings we have witnessed nearly every kind of worship, 
from the Japanese praying gong through the entire cate- 
gory of Buddhist, Brahmin, Mohammedan, and the me- 
chanical supplications of the Church of England, and our 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 315 

hearts yearn for the unctuous pleadings which rise from 
the heart and are wafted to heaven by a feeling of earnest- 
ness, humility, and faith. It is, however, a fact that we 
are all prone to impatience, amounting in some cases to 
intolerance, of religious theories and practices that do not 
accord with our own. I may be affected with the pre- 
vailing disease, but whether the suppliant be a Japanese 
Buddhist, a Hindoo Brahmin, or an English Christian, I 
like to see him pray as if he meant it. 

Aden, Arabia, January ISth. — We arrived here this 
morning, having experienced a pleasant voyage of not 
quite six days. We were allowed six hours to "do" the 
town, and we hurried ashore and procured a carriage 
drawn by a pair of thoroughbred Arabian horses, and 
started out to see what was to be seen. The town is on 
the south-west coast of Arabia, and is built upon the lava 
bed of an extinct volcano. The town does not really 
amount to much, beyond its fortifications, which are ex- 
tensive and garrisoned by three thousand English troops. 
It commands, to some degree, the entrance to the Red 
Sea, and is an important point only to that extent. The 
native population fluctuates greatly, and never at any time 
exceeds twenty or twenty-five thousand. Considerable 
trade is done in ostrich eggs and feathers. This is also 
the shipping point for the celebrated Mocha coiFee, which, 
as my readers are doubtless aware, is an Arabian product. 
From this point caravans penetrate into all parts of Arabia. 

The inhabitants are a peculiar appearing people, being 
composed of Arabs, Jews, and Abyssinians. The latter 
are negroes, whose heads are covered by a thick mat of 
curly red hair. 

We drove through the streets, and visited the bazaars 
and made a few purchases. The houses are of stone, plas- 
tered on the outside, and with flat roofs. My own opinion 



316 WHAT I SAW, 

of the town is that it is pretty near "the jumping off 
place/' meaning thereby that it is the most God-forsaken 
spot on earth. It is terribly hot even at this season, and 
must be insufferably torrid in midsummer. It is wholly 
barren, not a tree or shrub growing that is not the poor 
result of assiduous cultivation. The glare of the sun 
from the lava beds makes mere existence a burden. We 
bought some photographs, and paid our respects to the 
American consul, Mr. Wilson, from whom we obtained a 
roll of Boston papers, of a date as late as December 6th. 
The consul has my sympathies, as I would not live at Aden 
a year for the salary of the President. 

We drove out to the water tanks, situated on the hills, 
about seventeen hundred feet above the level of the sea. 
They are of immense capacity, five or six in number, and 
situated one below the other, so that the water which first 
fills the upper one transfers itself to those below, thus 
keeping the lower one always full. They are to some 
extent natural, but by the work of man have been made 
of permanent utility. Each will hold a small lake of 
water, being more than an acre in extent. It is supposed 
that these tanks were built by the Pharoahs. The stone 
work shows evidence of mechanical knowledge on the part 
of the builders. 

The fact that cholera prevails to an unpleasant degree 
in the town was sufficient excuse for our not lingering 
longer, even had our allotted six hours not expired. 

At 3 p. m. we are off* again, passing through the 
" Gate of Tears " into the Red Sea, bound for Suez, the 
canal, and beyond, our destination depending entirely 
upon the Egyptian authorities. We pass up north by 
the point that tradition tells us was the place where Cain 
was exiled. If such was the case he was certainly suffi- 
ciently punished for his crimes. 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 317 

On the 19th we experienced a rough sea. We passed 
four steamers bound down, over whose decks the water 
was breaking in vast waves. The novelty of the sight 
was somewhat reduced, however, by the fact that our own 
vessel was suffering the same way. 

We have just passed the "Twelve Apostles," a name 
given to a group of islands on the Arabian coast. We 
here have the continent of Asia on our right and that of 
Africa to the left. The latter, however, is not yet in 
sight, and won't be until we reach the Gulf of Suez. 

I see by the papers of December 6th that the govern- 
ment has fooled along with the wretch Guiteau, and it 
makes me almost ashamed of my nationality. It is a 
burning disgrace to America. One American whom I 
met in Calcutta said that if Guiteau was not hung he 
would be tempted to transfer his allegiance to some other 
country, and try to forget that he was an American. 

At this writing we do not know certainly whether we 
will be allowed to land in Egypt, or whether we will be 
compelled to go on to Italy. 

I have been amusing myself to-day reading President 
Arthur's message, with which I am much pleased. I ex- 
pect it is not often that the state papers of an American 
President are perused in the midst of the lied Sea. 

Sunday, January 22cZ. — We had more religious service 
of the machine variety to-day. We are now nearly oppo- 
site Mount Sinai, and if the day continues clear, Ave will 
probably see it from the ship this evening. We are to 
reach Suez to-morrow. 

Suez, Egypt, January 23d. — We are here safe, and 
taking our first view of that promised but now forbidden 
land, Egypt. We can not land, but we can find a grain 
of satisfaction by looking into the country. We passed 
Mount Sinai last night, and as the historical lightning 



318 WHAT I SAW, 

which once played around its summit ceased some several 
thousand years ago, we failed to see it. 

We are now anchored two miles from shore at about 
the point where Moses and the children of Israel crossed 
over " on dry land." The hills on the west side come 
down to the water, but on the east there is quite a level 
plain for a mile or two back, and then the mountains 
rise up high. There is in one place a gorge or can- 
yon through which it is supposed Moses led his hosts 
in their precipitate flight from the Egyptians. To the 
north is a sandy desert and the Suez Canal. 

We are putting off the mail, all to be put up in tarred 
bags for fear it has been contaminated. We are ten days 
out from Bombay, and, as there is not a case of sickness 
of any kind on board, all this seems childish. No one of 
the Egyptians who receive the mail is allowed to touch or 
go near one of our sailors. One degenerate descendant of 
the Pharaohs is standing on the lighter offering English 
papers for sale. In paying for them we had to drop our 
money in a cup of water, and he then, supposing it free from 
any infection, fishes it out. This is the first time Ave have 
ever experienced the isolation and other inconvenience of 
quarantine, but it is not likely to be the last. We are to 
be here twenty-four hours before passing through the 
canal and thence around to Alexandria, where we will 
again attempt to secure a landing. 

We keenly feel the injustice of our being restrained 
from the Nile trip, which has been to us a dream of the 
possible future since childhood. We can only stand on 
deck and look wistfully into the land where we promised 
ourselves such enjoyable experiences. We can see but 
little of the town of Suez, as we are anchored fully two 
miles from shore. 

This, our second day in the harbor of Suez, seems 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 319 

to us bitter cold, but the mercury only indicates forty- 
eight degrees. We have been traveling so long in trop- 
ical countries that we no doubt feel the change more than 
others. 

We are getting ready to pass into the canal, but it 
requires an amount of tedious routine to get the vessel out 
of the toils of the quarantine officials. There is no con- 
demned foolishness about an Egyptian quarantine either. 
An officer is put on board, whose duty it is to see that 
no one leaves the vessel. This fellow will remain with us 
during the trip through the canal, and will see that none 
of us slip ashore. 

The canal is about eighty -five miles long, and the en- 
trance to it about a mile from the port of Suez. It is 
only wide enough for one vessel, but is arranged with 
frequent widenings, corresponding to the side tracks of 
railroads, where vessels pass. As we are passing through 
the canal we have a continent on either hand, Asia on 
the right and Africa on the left. Each is a desert, as 
dreary and desolate an outlook as can be found on the 
face of the earth. Our ship pays a toll of four thousand 
dollars and two dollars in addition for each passenger. 
We have a pilot to take us through. As I write we are 
passing through Bitter Lake, and on the east of us is 
a raging sand storm on the desert. 

Ismalia, Egypt. — We stopped here over night, and 
were again quarantined twelve hours. From here is a 
railroad to Cairo and Alexandria. Ismalia is only a small 
point of land, an oasis in the desert, with a few trees and 
an occasional tuft of grass. The former khedive built 
here a palace for De Lesseps, the builder of the canal, 
*but the Frenchman would probably not have occupied it 
if he had been given the entire income of the ditch, and 
it stands vacant. We are anchored out in the lake about 



320 WHAT I SAW, 

a mile from the shore. Finally we are freed from the 
clutch of quarantine and pass again into the canal. In a 
short time we will reach Port Said, but of course will not 
be allowed to land there. The report now is that even 
Italy will turn her back on us, and we will be compelled 
to pass on up the. Adriatic to Trieste, Austria. We must 
get in somewhere, even if it should be Liverpool or New 
York. 

After leaving Ismalia we are regaled with the usual 
view of desert. We saw to-day from the ship hundreds 
of dromedaries and Egyptians in camp by the side of the 
canal, on the way to the Holy Land, only something 
more than a hundred miles distant, but so far as being of 
any benefit to us, it might as well be in the other hem- 
isphere. 

We saw during the day one of those desert pictures, a 
mirage. It presented a view of water and small islands, 
and it was difficult to realize that the perfect picture was 
a delusion. 

In going through the canal we move very slowly, 
going at a rate not to exceed four miles per hour. We 
have to "side-track" once in a while to allow other ves- 
sels to pass. At one station to-day we saw a drove of 
"fat-tailed" sheep, and the water is covered with myriads 
of ducks. These fowls, however, are not palatable, as, 
their food being wholly fish, they are exceedingly strong. 

Port Said, January 26th. — We have reached this point 
only to again encounter that odious quarantine. We will 
be detained here twenty-four hours, and in the meantime 
we take on three hundred tons of coal, handled by fellahs. 
These creatures are a human curiosity. They are cer- 
tainly the most dirty, lousy, inodorous sons of Adam that 
the eyes of mortal man ever beheld, excepting always the 
Chinese. It seems to me that they must have been created 



AND ROW I SAW IT. 321 

of the remnants after all the passable material had been 
consumed, and a very inferior quality of remnants at that. 
And to think that we, who hold cleanliness second only 
to godliness, should be excluded from a country where 
these creatures, with all their filth and beastliness, are 
privileged to live and come and go as they please. It is 
too much ! too much ! But they are magnificent coal- 
heavers. They are so dirty that the blackest coal posi- 
tively makes a white mark on them. 

Port Said, so well as we can see it from the deck of 
the ship, is a neat and tidy little place, containing perhaps 
eighty to one hundred houses, built of stone and plastered. 
Many are two or three stories high. A telescope tells me 
that some bear signs of liquor and billiard saloons and 
dance houses. Port Said is one of the most lawless of 
places, the inhabitants being composed largely of those 
classes who have found it inconvenient and unpleasant to 
remain at home in the different countries of Europe. Our 
captain tells me they are the scum of all countries, and 
that the licentiousness is something phenomenal. The 
dance houses are made attractive at night by the presence 
of girls who shamelessly play the character of Eve. When 
this last fact is considered, I cease to regret that we were 
not allowed to land. The Cingalese bath girls were about 
as much as my proverbially strong mental composition 
could stand. 

From here we go to Alexandria, to make one more 

attempt to penetrate the land of the Pharaohs. We really 

begin to feel as if we were a part of one of the lost tribes 

Judea. "What " gravels " us most is that the natives we 

see here are a standing invitation to the cholera or any 

other scourge. They are the remnants of the hosts of 

Pharaoh that were swallowed up in the Red Sea. My 

own opinion is that it was an unkind Deity that saved 

21 



322 WHAT I SAW, 

any seed for sueh a race from the raging waters. Here is 
Egypt, and I could hurl a stone into it. On the other 
hand is Palestine scarcely a hundred miles inland, and yet 
we must pass on. I am mad, and getting madder each 
day. Because forsooth, we have been traveling in India, 
we must go on to Europe and wear sackcloth and ashes 
for a month or more. 

Alexandria, Egypt, January 27th. — We are here in 
quarantine once more, anchored out a mile from the shore. 
We can see the fortifications, which look to be on a large 
scale, the khedive's palace and Pompey's Pillar in the 
distance. It is a blessing that we are permitted to look 
at Egypt from a distance, and we suppose we should be 
devoutly thankful for the privilege. We are supposed to 
be inoculated with the germs of the cholera, though if 
sueh was really the case it is a little strange that the dis- 
ease has not made its appearance in the fifteen days since 
we left Bombay. Every body is disgusted. Even the 
ship's torn eat feels the dishonor that has been put upon 
him, and last night whiled away the hours with vigorous 
protesting yowls. At least I suppose that was what was 
the matter with him, as the usual controlling principle of 
caterwauling was absent in his case. 

I believe that somewhere in this letter I have at least 
intimated that lying in quarantine is an unmitigated nui- 
sance. If I have neglected to speak of it, I will insert 
the declaration here. Here we arc, and can not discharge 
a passenger or a ton of cargo ; not even a letter can be 
sent ashore. We must stay here for four days, to purify 
ourselves for Italy. 

This is the last port of Egypt, and our only hope of 
being allowed to land is gone. We are going to get out 
as soon as we can, solely because we can't get in. We 
will spend some little time in Italy, Germany, and Ire- 



AND SOW I SAW IT. 323 

land, and sail for home early in March in a state of dis- 
gust, satisfied, however, in one regard, that we have made 
the circuit of the globe. Should life and good health con- 
tinue we will next Winter approach the Sultan's dominions 
on the other tack, and get in by the way of Europe. We 
have here a squad of Egyptian officials, in a small boat, 
watching us as closely as if we were pirates or smugglers. 
This in addition to an official who is placed on board and 
will accompany us to Europe, determined that none of us 
shall get away. 

Sunday , January 2$th. — We had a little variation to- 
day from the usual monotony. A small boat came out, 
and we bargained for some figs. The boatman handed 
them up in a bucket, and we sent the money in the same 
receptacle. The coin was thoroughly washed before he 
would touch it. I made him break his quarantine, how- 
ever, by dropping into his boat a biscuit, whieh he eagerly 
clutched and voraciously munched, apparently thinking 
that hunger was more to be feared than the cholera. 

Our party leaves to-day for the upper Nile, so it would 
do us no good to get ashore to-morrow. I am considerate 
enough to hope they will have a pleasant excursion. We 
would like very much to bear them company, but circum- 
stances wholly beyond our control render it impossible. 
Ta, ta ! Our blessings go with you ! 

Just as we are leaving our anchorage we are informed 
by telegraph that we would be permitted to land at Brin- 
disi. Now, that's kind! That's considerate! We did 
not know but perhaps we would be compelled to wander 
up and down the oceans during the succeeding years. 

I see by the papers that ten days after we left China 
the coast of that delectable country was swept by a typhoon 
that destroyed more than three thousand lives. All this 
occurred while we were passing up the west coast of Su- 



324 WHAT I SAW, 

matra, in water as calm and unruffled as a mill pond. "We 
feel devoutly thankful for our escape. 

The second day out we are passing the west end of the 
island of Candia, with its towering mountains. We do n't 
know whether we could have landed or not, but didn't 
try. These mountains of Candia are said to be eight 
thousand feet high, and are tipped with snow. We pass 
within five or six miles of the coast, and have a good 
view of the range, which remind me much of the Sierra 
Nevadas of California. 

The weather in the Mediterranean sea is different from 
that we experienced in the tropics. The sky has lost that 
perennial clearness, and assumed the cloudy, dull, leaden 
appearance indicative of colder weather and equally sug- 
gestive of sudden squalls of wind. 

Last night (the second out from Alexandria) we en- 
countered a severe storm, which shattered our hopes of 
making the tour of the world without having experienced 
a blow. I suppose the sailors did not think it much of a 
blow, but I classed it among the " terrible gales." It 
blew all night, and the waves ran " mountains high," that 
is, little mountains, and for the first time my estimable 
companion contributed to the sustenance of the fishes. By 
a superhuman effort I managed to retain control of my 
stomach. But I have enough of seasickness. Quite 
enough ! It seems to me like a combination of all the 
ordinary causes of illness. One minute the sufferer is 
afraid he will die the next, and the next he is sorry he 
did n't. The weather continues to get colder, and to-day 
the mercury was down to forty degrees. This sudden 
transition from India, where it hardly ever fell below 
eighty-five, is trying to our sensibilities. 

To-morrow Ave will land at Brindisi, and, if we are so 
fortunate, we will proceed thence at once by rail to Naples. 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 325 

Brindisi, Italy, February 2d. — We are devoutly thank- 
ful for the privilege of again placing our feet upon solid 
ground, even if that ground is hundreds of miles from our 
objective point. We were on board the Bokara for twenty- 
one days, and only went on shore once, at Aden, in Arabia. 

This is but a small place, and as a train for Naples is 
ready in one hour, we secure our baggage, hastily receive 
the respects of the customs officers, and are off. 

An incident at the depot served to convince us that 
the baggage men of Italy do not differ materially from 
their brethren the world over. The fellow who carried 
our luggage demanded three francs for his services. I 
offered him one, and, with a biting sarcasm, he declared 
that, I, being a gentleman, he would not charge me any 
thing. The satire was wholly lost upon me, however, and 
I coolly put the money back in my pocket, and took my 
seat in the car. The fellow evidently reconsidered his de- 
termination, however, for he soon put in a reappearance, 
and remarked that he would endeavor to be satisfied with 
the franc. He had concluded that for once he had tackled 
parties who, having been " skinned " in nearly every 
quarter of the globe, were getting weary of the game of 
extortion. 

Now, we are in Europe, and, by being compelled to 
change our programme, we have saved three thousand 
miles of travel and more than $1,100 in money, but are 
nevertheless disgusted with the affair, which disgust is not 
in the least decreased by the knowledge that our tour of 
Europe is to be made in the cold of February instead of 
in April, as originally calculated upon. The railroad 
train on which we are just starting for Naples has a Pull- 
man car attached, which reminds us more of home than 
any thing we have seen since leaving San Francisco. We 
pass over a level country, mostly devoted to the raiding 



326 WHAT I SAW, 

of wheat, mulberry, and fruit. The soil is limestone. 
Peaches and cherries are in bloom, yet we are in the same 
latitude as Columbus. The wind is quite sharp, at least 
it seems so to us. 

I am writing this paragraph at a junction, where we 
are compelled to wait for four hours. As it is night, we 
can not see the town, and can form no intelligent idea of 
the surrounding country. My impression is that it is 
mainly important as a crossing of prominent trunk lines. 
We are to be in Naples at seven in the morning, and will 
there tarry for a few days, taking in the sights and form- 
ing impressions of the Neapolitans. 

We fully realize the contrast between Europe and the 
Orient, between the qualified civilization of Southern 
Italy and the undisguised barbarism of China and India. 
We are entering Europe by the back door as it were, 
and will pass rapidly through the premises, halting but a 
short time in the different apartments. Europe has been 
written up so often and so thoroughly that it has be- 
come as familiar to Americans almost as their own country. 
We look forward, however, to the tour of Ireland with 
much expectation. We are now five-sixths of the way 
around the world, and the remainder will soon pass under 
our feet. We could reach home in fifteen days, but Eu- 
rope presents even more attractions for us. 

Naples, February 4th — After riding all night, we 
reached here at eight o'clock this morning. The route 
from Brindisi is over the Apennine Mountains, and is 
said to be very romantic, but the fine scenery was all lost 
upon us, as the night was dark as pitch, and by us largely 
devoted to much needed rest. The weather was dis- 
agreeably cool, and the advent of day showed a white 
frost covering the ground. Such a frost in America would 
prove disastrous to " garden truck." We do n't know 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 327 

what may be the effect in Italy, but we saw acres of gar- 
dens upon which the coating of ice glistened in the morn- 
ing sun. 

We have not yet seen any thing of Naples, except 
Mount Vesuvius, which is pouring out its clouds of smoke, 
forming a dense black mass in the sky. The old adage 
says, "See Naples and die/' but I will be able to express 
an opinion upon the aphorism in my next. 



328 WHAT I SAW. 



. XXVII. 

Naples and Eome — The Ascent of Mount Vesuvius — An Un- 
pleasant Adventure with a Guide — Ramble Among the 
Ruins of Pompeii — Rome and the Romans, Ancient and Mod- 
ern — The Coliseum — St. Peter's — Wandering Through the 
Catacombs. 

Rome, Italy, February u, 1882. 

There is much said by tourists regarding the great 
beauty of Naples, its skies, its palaces, its bay, etc. 
With such sights we felt surfeited, and turned our atten- 
tion to the greater novelty of Vesuvius and Pompeii. 
The morning of our arrival we procured tickets and pas- 
sage on the railroad which ascends Vesuvius. The dis- 
tance by stage to the station near the foot of the mountain 
is about twelve miles, over a serpentine road, picturesque 
only after it rises the foot-hills and gives a view of the 
stately city and magnificent harbor.- We entered the car 
at an elevation of perhaps two thousand feet and ascended 
by rail, over probably the most remarkably located rail- 
road in the world, to a height of three thousand seven 
hundred and fifty feet. The construction of a railroad up 
the side of a mountain is in itself nothing peculiar in the 
science of engineering, but when that mountain is an 
active volcano, and the road-bed pure lava, mingled with 
scoria and other recrement, it becomes a novelty which 
nowhere else on earth finds its parallel. 

At the height mentioned the railroad terminates, and 
the traveler must needs foot it from that point to the 
crater. The accompanying guide is often a physical assist- 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 329 

ance in passing the rugged points, where obstructions are 
to be overcome and chasms crossed. Mrs. C succumbed 
to the physical exertion necessary, but I pushed on, de- 
termined to see all that lay between me and the "dead 
line" of positive danger. I passed down into the old 
crater, over sulphurous ashes and lava, yet hot and blister- 
ing to the feet. I went around to the Pompeii side, and 
stopped within ten feet of an open crater, inactive, yet 
still glowing with a furnace-like heat. I could look down 
into the vast vortex filled with red-hot lava, and all 
around were wide fissures which emitted volumes of sul- 
phurous vapor. I ascended from the side of the mountain 
looking over and beyond Pompeii, and on the north-east 
side approached the crater that is in active eruption. Due 
regard for safety kept us at a distance of about half a 
mile, where for some time we stood and watched the play. 
Every few minutes the lava would be ejected in jets of 
fire, mingled with smoke and fumes of sulphur. The 
sight is very attractive, but the conviction which con- 
stantly forces itself upon the mind that there is no place 
on the mountain of absolute safety, combined with the 
discomfort of an atmosphere impregnated with sulphur, 
mars to a great extent the beauty of the view. The red- 
hot stones are projected to a great height, with a noise like 
thunder, and fall at considerable distances. For miles 
around the volcano the earth is covered with lava, evi- 
dencing the force and volume of previous eruptions. In 
some places, in fact, nearly everywhere, this strata of lava 
has become covered with soil, which is remarkably pro- 
ductive. Villages, vineyards, and olive orchards are loca- 
ted on the sides of the mountain, wherever the soil has 
found a lodgment, and the natives pursue their vocations 
in the quietude of apparent security, seemingly without a 
realization that a few hours may overwhelm them with 



330 WHAT I SAW, 

streams of molten lava. It is the same the world over. 
The constant presence of danger lessens its terrors, and 
men come to view with complacency the perils that are 
most manifest. 

I succumbed to the mephitic vapors and physical ex- 
ertion, and declined to accompany the rest of the party 
around to the other side of the mountain. My guide, with 
whom I was alone, was not the most cheerful companion 
in the world. If ever the countenance of a human being 
was indelibly impressed with the stamp of villain, that 
fellow's was. I was not, therefore, surprised when he 
attempted to rob me. He first endeavored to lead me into 
an out-of-the-way place. This I saw and protested against. 
He asserted that it was the best, and, in fact, the only 
route to the point which we desired to reach, and I ac- 
companied him a short distance into a ravine. There he 
stopped and said : " Now, you give money !" Even the 
romance of being robbed on Mount Vesuvius had no at- 
tractions for me, and I refused his demand. But I was 
evidently in for an adventure of some kind, and as he had 
every advantage over me, I decided to parley a little with 
him. I asked him how much he wanted. He named a 
startling sum, and I told him I did not have so much 
with me, but would pay him when we returned to the 
hotel. I was very silly to think the practiced scoundrel 
would fall into such a trap, and as I started to walk away 
from him he stopped me. Things were "rapidly nearing 
a crisis," as the saying is, and it became evident to me 
that I was about to be robbed, and would be lucky if I 
was provided the opportunity ever to tell the romantic 
story to my friends. How easy it would have been for 
him to drive his ever-ready knife through me and drop 
the body into one of the numerous fissures that opened in 
every direction beneath our feet. All this passed rapidly 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 331 

through my mind as I stood and hurriedly scanned his vil- 
lainous features. Cremation in the seething fires of the 
volcano had no charms for me, and I began to further tem- 
porize with him. It will surprise my readers to learn that 
I was not frightened. It may have been the courage of 
desperation, but I looked the rascal squarely in the eye and 
talked to him as calmly as if I had been discussing some 
minor question of domestic economy with my worthy 
spouse. The crisis of which I have spoken was disagree- 
ably near at hand when, much to my relief, the other 
members of our party appeared, and the negotiations sud- 
denly came to a (to me) satisfactory conclusion. 

I am firmly convinced, not only by this experience, 
but from the appearance and actions of the fellows gener- 
ally, that the guides of Mt. Vesuvius are a gang of bandits 
who will not hesitate to rob the tourist, and murder him 
if necessary. My advice to all is, never allow yourself to 
be alone with one of them for a moment. I have had my 
experience, and it is quite sufficient. 

All this, however, did not destroy my relish for the 
novelty of the scene spread before me. Its grandeur is 
beyond the adequate description of much more facile pens 
than mine. As I looked into the crater now cooling, the 
edge of which was but ten feet distant from where I stood, 
it was like gazing into a vast open furnace filled with half 
molten metal. At a distance of half a mile was the active 
crater, pouring forth volumes of flame and smoke, min- 
gled at intervals with jets of lava and half melted rocks, 
a picture of the majesty of aroused nature that leaves a 
lasting impress upon the brain. 

The descent was as difficult almost as the going up, 
although I suppose the average tourist, who prides him- 
self upon the chamois-like foolhardiness and agility that 
has carried him to the summit of the Alps, thinks little 



332 WHAT I SAW, 

of the task. Alternate floundering through ashes and 
climbing over chasms and other obstructions brought us 
finally to the station, from whence the descent is made by 
train, and we reached the hotel about dark, with double 
thankfulness — that we had lived to ascend Mount Vesu- 
vius, and lived to return. 

The following day was devoted to a visit to Pompeii, 
that buried relic of nearly two thousand years ago. 
Knowing that the utmost endeavor would scarcely enable 
us to condense into one day one-tenth the manifold attrac- 
tions of the ancient Roman city, we started early, and by 
seven o'clock were on our way. The drive is a long but 
by no means a tedious one. The route lies through many 
villages, giving the traveler a reasonably clear impression 
of the customs and habits of the Neapolitan peasantry. 

About eleven o'clock we reached the entrance to the 
ruined" city. Here there is a hotel, where we left our 
carriage, and after paying a small admittance fee were 
allowed to pass in. 

The history of this ancient Roman city is, or should 
be, familiar to every school-boy. It was undoubtedly one 
of the most wealthy and fashionable provincial cities of 
the Roman Empire. In A. D. 79 it, together with the 
adjacent city of Herculaneum, was overwhelmed by an 
eruption of Vesuvius and buried nearly a hundred feet 
beneath a shower of lava, scoria, and volcanic stones. In 
175G, after the lapse of nearly seventeen hundred years, 
its location was discovered by accident. It seems strange 
that the city should so long have remained hidden, as his- 
tory contemporaneous with its destruction gives a strik- 
ingly vivid account of the event. The loss of life is sup- 
posed not to have been very great, as history records that 
the inhabitants generally escaped, and comparatively few 
human remains have been discovered in the excavations. 



AND HOW 1 SA W IT. 333 

I can best perhaps give the reader an idea of the ap- 
pearance of the ruins by employing a homely simile. In 
the first place, imagine the little city of Bucyrus buried 
beneath a hundred feet of ashes for two thousand years, 
its existence half-forgotten, its location uncertain. Fancy 
then the uncovering of perhaps one-half of it, the debris 
carefully carted away, the streets cleared, the roofless 
houses exposed, the thousands of imperishable articles that 
to-day compose the facilities for household conduct un- 
earthed and spread before the wondering eyes of the world 
of twenty centuries hence, and you will have a faint idea 
of the picture presented to the eye to-day in Pompeii. 

We entered a wide, high archway of stone, with one 
passage way for teams and the other for pedestrians, aud 
after passing up quite a hill, we were in the ancient city. 
The streets run nearly at right angles, and are paved with 
bowlders. The wheel marks of the ancient Roman ve- 
hicles have formed quite a gutter, and give evidence of 
the great antiquity of the city at the date of its destruction. 
At the street crossings are stepping-stones for pedestrians, 
many of which are sixteen inches in height. The cart- 
wheels must have been of considerable diameter to allow 
the axle to clear these. Some of the streets are wide, 
and some have alleys connecting them through the squares, 
just as the thoroughfares are arranged in these latter days. 
We went to the bake shops, the wine shops, and to the 
grand theater, said to have had a seating capacity for 
twenty thousand people. I noticed that the stone step 
over which we passed into the building was deep worn by 
the attrition of millions of sandaled feet. The places 
where the wild beasts were kept preparatory to the con- 
tests with the gladiators, which formed the standard amuse- 
ments of the ancient Romans, are still seen. The arena is 
in an excellent state of preservation. From the theater we 



334 WHAT I SAW, 

went to a palace which still gives evidence of the luxury 
with which the aristocracy of Rome were surrounded. The 
mosaic of the floors is well preserved. We visited the 
bath rooms and the'" bake rooms. In the latter, the ovens 
look as if the fires might have been extinguished but yes- 
terday. When this building was unearthed, loaves of 
bread were found in the oven, and are now preserved, as is 
every thing else portable, and valued as relics, in the mu- 
seum at Naples. The cisterns, composed of red clay, which 
formerly held the stock in trade of the wine merchant, are 
yet well preserved. The work of excavation continues, 
but with that deliberation and evident distaste for speed 
and exertion that distinguishes the Italian character. The 
visitor is carefully watched, and not allowed to appropr- 
iate any of the curiosities and mementos of his visit, that 
tempt him on every hand. The ashes in which every 
thing is imbedded are carried in baskets to a cart, and 
thence conveyed to a distance and dumped. Every shov- 
elful taken from the inside of a building is carefully ex- 
amined, and all articles in the form of relics of the former 
residents are sedulously preserved for the museum. We de- 
voted one entire day to wandering through these ruins, our 
thoughts occupied largely by speculations upon the people 
who walked its streets nearly twenty centuries ago — a peo- 
ple who lived, loved, and labored as we do, who were actu- 
ated by the same ambitions and suffered from the same 
disappointments that we do. I stood at the entrance to the 
grand theater, and my thoughts centered upon the scenes 
there enacted at the period when Christ was an infant in 
his virgin mother's arms. Where now are the feet that 
eighteen hundred years ago pressed these steps? Where 
the bright eyes that were wont to glow with the excite- 
ment of the gladiatorial combats? Passed away! Min- 
gled with the countless legions who had preceded them, 



AND HOW 1 SAW IT. 335 

and even the knowledge of their existence was buried for 
nearly seventeen hundred years! Such sentiment was in- 
terrupted, however, by a realization that the physical de- 
mands of the present must not be neglected — that Naples 
and supper were twelve miles away. 

I have read much of the beggars of Naples, and ex- 
pected to be overwhelmed by their persistency. I was 
agreeably disappointed. They are angels of meekness and 
humility, compared with the mendicants of India. The 
bay of Naples has been the theme of enthusiasts from time 
immemorial. While it is very beautiful and picturesque, 
it does not exceed, in my opinion, that of Hong Kong. 
The city, in some regards, is handsome, but not sufficiently 
so to throw me into ecstasies of delight. The hotels are 
good. "We were struck with the novelty of waiters with 
standing collars and swallow-tailed coats, after our tur- 
baned, white-robed, and bare-footed lackeys of India. We 
felt a little embarrassed at first, fearing that we might 
mistake a prince of the blood royal for a servant. The 
numerous churches and palaces of the city did not strike 
our sense of admiration to an alarming extent. We have, 
metaphorically speaking, feasted on temples and palaces 
during the three past months, and our appetite for such 
architectural pabulum is cloyed. 

We spent a half day very pleasantly feeding upon the 
wonders of the Pompeii museum. Among the legion of 
curious things displayed, we were struck by the resem- 
blance of many of the relics to the conveniences of to-day. 
We saw planes, foot-adzes, compasses, scales, bowls, jew- 
elry, glass bottles, and many other things that find their 
almost exact counterpart in the instruments used at pres- 
ent. My confidence in things new was somewhat shaken. 
I saw one instrument that as closely resembled the Amer- 
ican corn-husker as any thing could, not to be identical. 



336 WHAT I SAW, 

Strange it would be, if the idea had been cribbed by a 
predatory Yankee from some Pompeian genius of a couple 
of thousand years ago. Even if so, however, the present 
manufacturer need feel no uneasiness, as the original in- 
ventor is probably dead. The tools in the museum are 
either iron (perhaps a species of steel) or copper, and are 
badly corroded. This museum has a tendency to set the 
visitor to thinking, and wondering whether, after all, the 
nineteenth century is so far in advance. Here we have 
the genuine " old masters " in art. Sections of the walls 
in buildings of Pompeii, containing pictures as bright in 
in color as though painted but yesterday, have been re- 
moved to the museum. I might devote columns to the 
description of the varied novelties of this collection, but 
most of my readers have doubtless perused chapters of 
much greater descriptive merit than I could hope to write. 

We remained four days in Naples, which was time 
sufficient to satisfy the curiosity that had been somewhat 
circumscribed and dulled by a varied experience of sev- 
eral months of travel. We traveled by rail, over a moun- 
tainous road, every foot almost of which is classic ground, 
and arrived here at ten o'clock P. M. We are stopping 
at the " Florenzia." The next day after our arrival we 
procured the necessary guide and started out to view the 
sights of Rome. This chaperon is not " the noblest Ro- 
man of them all," but he is a vast improvement over the 
Neapolitan bandit under whose care we ascended Vesuvius. 
He has, in addition, a knowledge of Rome which I could 
safely envy. 

It can hardly be expected of me to enter upon a de- 
tailed description of the city of Rome, and I will there- 
fore confine myself to a brief mention of the most notable 
features that passed within the scope of my observation. 
We have endeavored to " do " the city in a reasonably 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 337 

complete manner, as upon our next visit to Europe we 
expect to pass hurriedly through and push on to Egypt 
and the Holy Land. Almost the first object that attracted 
my very practical attention was the fine horses, which cer- 
tainly are nowhere excelled. The carriages also are not 
surpassed in London, Paris, or New York. At this sea- 
son of the year, the weather in Rome is cool to braciness, 
with frost in the mornings ; yet on every side you will 
see orange and lemon trees, with pendent fruit. 

Our first visit was to the Parthenon, and thence we 
made the round of the churches, big churches and little 
churches, fine churches and common piles, all kinds of 
churches except new ones. So far as my observation ex- 
tends, there is nothing new in Rome. Every thing bears 
the unmistakable impress of age, but so substantial are 
the churches, palaces, and even the ruins, that there is 
little appearance of decay. Many of the first named date 
back to the beginning of the Christian Era, and in one, 
the Church of the Holy Stairs, the steps, brought from 
Jerusalem, are those which tradition, if not history, says 
Christ frequently ascended. We saw much disgusting 
idolatry in Japan and India, and prided ourselves that 
we were Christians, and idolatry among us is unknown. 
When I stood in the Church of the Holy Stairs and saw 
professed Christians crawling up the steps upon their 
hands and knees, I wondered whether, after all, we did 
not claim too much. The holy steps are covered with 
wood to preserve them from wear, and my guide told me 
the present covering, which is worn thin, was the third 
that had been so placed. 

We went out to the ruins of Caesar's Viaduct, and 
thence to the Coliseum. Even the ruins of this immense 
structure are grand in their immensity, and give, perhaps- 
more fully than any other of the immense ruins of Rome, 

22 



338 WHAT I SAW, 

an idea of its former appearance. The present structure, 
as history records, was commenced in 72 by Flavius Ves- 
pasian, and was finished in the reign of his son Titus. It 
was capable of seating eighty-seven thousand persons and 
providing standing room for twenty thousand more. It is 
said that the labor of thirty thousand Jewish prisoners 
was employed in its construction. The building was roof- 
less, and arranged with an awning that could be drawn 
down at pleasure to protect the audience from the storm 
or rays of the sun. The form is oval, and- the shape and 
arrangement of the seats, rising one above another, pro- 
vided the model upon which all modern theaters are ar- 
ranged. We could see where the wild beasts were kept, 
the rooms for the confinement of prisoners whose contests 
with the lions, tigers, and other blood-thirsty animals fur- 
nished amusement for the Roman emperors, patricians, and 
"plebeian rabble." We spent several hours at this point 
and in the vicinity, where extensive excavations are being 
made, bringing to light many relics of Pagan Rome — the 
Rome " who sat upon her seven hills and from her throne 
of beauty ruled the world." 

Turning from these scenes to the street of the Rome of 
to-day, looking upon the gay pageant where richly capar- 
isoned horses, and elegant carriages filled with finely 
dressed ladies and gentlemen, dashed by, my thoughts 
wandered over the events of more than two thousand 
years, and endeavored to picture the changes that have 
been wrought since the ambitious Julius Caesar, the cruel 
Nero, and heartless Caligula ruled and ruined Rome. 
It is almost impossible for the mind to comprehend that 
this is Rome, the mistress of the world, whose victorious 
legions swept the plains of Turkey, penetrated the fast- 
nesses of Gaul, and devastated the hills and valleys of 
Briton. Through these streets marched the triumphal 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 339 

Csesar; here lived and loved, the brilliant, but misguided, 
Marc Antony; here Brutus intrigued and himself sought 
the crown which his friend and victim of his treachery 
had "thrice refused;" here Cicero wielded the mighty 
force of his oratory, and the envious Catiline plotted his 
own overthrow. When the Coliseum was built, the per- 
secution and martyrdom of Paul was fresh in the minds 
of the poeple, and the crucifixion of our Savior was an 
event of the past half century. 

We passed out the old Roman gate, on the south side 
of the city, to the Church of St. Paul, where the apostle is 
buried. This building is noted for its fine mosaics, which 
represent the apostles in full size, and so perfect is the 
work that the visitor is half convinced that they are 
paintings. We also visited the obelisk of Rameses, an 
immense shaft that was erected in Egypt originally by 
that delightfully obscure ruler who is supposed to have 
been a contemporary of Abraham. Rameses is dead, or 
perhaps he would enter a protest against the manner in 
which the civilization of the present is despoiling his 
country of its monuments to provide food for the wonder 
of gaping millions, most of whom never dreamed of his 
existence. Who knows but four or five thousand years 
hence the people, the rulers, and the monuments of to-day 
will be remembered and looked upon with equal super- 
stitious awe and misty tradition? 

At the close of our first day in the Eternal City we 
drove through the fashionable boulevard, and rested our 
weary brains, surfeited by the history and traditions of 
the misty past, by mingling with the gay throng which 
crowds the thoroughfare. Certainly the finest turnouts 
in the world are to be seen here. It is a vast kaleido- 
scope of unsurpassed elegance. I felt much more at home 
among the elegant horses, fine carriages, and beautiful 



340 WHA T I SA W, 

ladies of the present than I did delving among the mem- 
ories of the long past. 

We wandered through many churches and studied with 
all the interest we could possibly arouse, the numerous 
paintings by Raphael, Michael Angelo, and the other "old 
masters." It is considered the proper thing to go into 
ecstasies over these works of art. Well, I shall do no 
such thing. If they represent " high art," and I suppose 
they do, I am free to admit that my artistic comprehen- 
sion is not of sufficient altitude to reach them. In other 
words they are entirely too "high" for my grasp. I 
have seen paintings by American amateurs that I think 
much superior. The " conception " may not be so grand, 
the "touch" so delicate, the chiar-oscuro so exquisite, nor 
the " grouping " so fine, but they looked like something, 
and that is a virtue that no Angelo, Raphael, Correggio, 
or Rubens which I have ever seen did.- Now, good 
reader, you have my opinion of "high art." It may not 
be valuable, but it certainly is honest, and that is much 
more than can be said of most of the oracular disserta- 
tions of critical noodles who write learnedly and mystic- 
ally, and roll their aesthetic eyes in an ecstasy of admiration 
at the mention of the name of one of the " old masters." 

On our second day in Rome we went first to the prison 
of St. Paul, a very formidable building of a dark and 
ultra forbidding appearance. We were furnished each a 
torch, and went down into a stone vault about twenty feet 
in diameter, with an arched roof. It was as dark as 
night. We passed on down another flight of steps to a 
similar vault. This is where Peter and Paul were chained, 
and the very post is yet to be seen, covered with 

"The sacred dust of twice ten hundred years." 
Both of these vaults are very deep down, dark, cold, 




W:^y)0^%. 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 341 

and damp, and how any one could manage to exist in 
them for even three days is more than I could imagine. 
I looked around for some relics of the illustrious prisoners, 
but none could be found. There are no charcoal auto- 
graphs on the walls, nor are they ornamented with clip- 
pings from illustrated papers of the day, as is the habit 
of our modern prisoners. It may not be necessary for me 
to say that there is no positive evidence, and little cir- 
cumstantial, that Peter and Paul ever occujned this cell. 
But it would be rank treason to intimate a doubt to a 
guide. If the noble Roman who conducted me around 
had declared that the Savior was crucified in the Vatican 
I would have meekly accepted his statement and gazed 
with all the necessary awe-stricken interest on the spot. 
We felt glad to ascend again to the light and get a breath 
of fresh air, a commodity that is not superabundant in 
Rome even under the most favorable circumstances. 

We next paid our respects to the " ruined palaces of the 
Csesars," which occupy one of the seven hills and cover an 
area of perhaps sixty or eighty acres. They are of great 
extent, but, as Mark Twain said, sadly out of repair. 
They are in no way as attractive as those of Delhi. We 
were shown one building that tradition and the guide 
(powerful factors in estimating the antiquity of ruins) say 
was erected by Romulus, the founder of Rome. This 
enterprising young man drew the plan of the city 754 
years before Christ, but, as even his existence is largely 
legendary if not wholly mythical, it is safe to assume that 
the story of his erecting this structure, or any other build- 
ing in Rome, is "another one of the guide's lies." 

The next point of interest which we visited was the 
catacombs, those vast subterranean vaults, which were 
used primarily as a place for the deposit of the dead, and 
secondarily by the ancient Christians as places of worship, 



342 WHAT I SAW, 

where they could hope to escape their persecutors. We 
went to the entrance and, securing a guide, descended 
about forty or fifty steps, and were within the celebrated 
cataoombs of Rome. We lighted torches and commenced 
the walk through this gloomy charnel-house. The streets 
or walks are narrow, scarcely ever more than three feet 
wide, and extend in every direction, a total distance, it is 
said, of six hundred miles. I have placed that qualifying 
"it is said" there to save me answering in the future for 
an exaggeration, or, perhaps, a downright falsehood. The 
guide said so, and he ought to know. My readers must 
remember that guides are proverbial truth-tellers, the very 
incarnation of reliability. I do not suppose one of them 
would deliberately tell a lie. He might give utterance to 
a falsehood from force of a habit, nurtured from boyhood, 
but he has a horror of lying intentionally. On both sides 
of these streets are niches cut out for the reception of the 
body of some defunct Roman. We saw a few, yet in a 
reasonable state of preservation, but most of the remains 
have crumbled into dust. I had read so much of getting 
lost in the catacombs that we were nervously apprehensive 
that some such fate might befall us. Our torches burned 
low, and as we had penetrated a long distance, we re- 
quested our guide to return us to the upper world. Our 
exit from the bowels of the earth was a long distance 
from the entrance. We were glad to embrace the oppor- 
tunity to go in, and the chance to get out was equally 
welcome. Dead people are not the most genial compan- 
ions to be found, even if they be the participants in the 
former glory of the " mistress of the world." 

"Imperial Caesar, dead and turned to clay, 
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away," 

and, though history does not record an instance of the 
bodies of defunct patricians being used as " chinking," yet 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 343 

they have been laid away in these immense vaults to serve 
an equally ignoble and scarcely so useful a purpose, that 
of providing wonders upon which the curious mind may 
speculate. I stopped for a moment before one of the 
most ancient-appearing receptacles, in which the body of 
the incumbent had mouldered away to but a handful of 
odorless dust, and tried to picture in my mind his career 
in life. Who was he ? When did he live ? What did 
he do? May be he was a senator. Perhaps one of the 
plotters against the life of "noble Caesar." Perchance he 
followed the victorious eagles, and participated in the suc- 
cesses that conferred imperishable glory upon the Roman 
Empire. It is possible that the object of my solicitude 
was a base plebeian. I trust not, because I fixed up in my 
mind a pleasant little romance for him, and I hope he de- 
served it. 

It was near sundown when we emerged, and started to 
return in our carriage over the Appian Way. This road 
is one of the seemingly imperishable monuments of ancient 
Rome, and in the days of the empire was, as it is yet to 
some extent, the great thoroughfare. We met the only 
child of the king, a young prince of fourteen, who, with 
his attendants, was out for a drive. I raised my hat, and 
the prince returned the salutation with grace. If he 
should become the king of Italy (an event very probable) 
and I should want an office under him (an event very 
improbable) I will take pleasure in reminding him of my 
consideration. 

On this day we drove perhaps twenty miles, and saw 
much of the city. The next, and last, was devoted almost 
exclusively to St. Peter's — that majestic pile, the Mecca 
of every tourist. Like the Taj Mahal, which, by the way, 
it does not approach in splendor, I am at a loss where to 
begin a description that will even approximate justice to the 



344 WHAT I SAW, 

subject, and perhaps I can best preserve what little credit 
I may have for descriptive talent by passing lightly over 
it. Rome is a history of itself, and so also, I might say, 
St. Peter's is a world in itself. From the pinnacle of the 
lofty dome — the most elevated, I believe, in the world — 
to the floor of the vast building, it is a continuous source 
of wonderment and object of admiration. The walls are 
composed largely of blocks of marble from the ruins of 
the ancient city. For hours we wandered through its 
naves and aisles, penetrated the recesses of its inner chap- 
els, and were stricken with awe at its immensity as a 
whole, and with the completeness of every detail. The 
first impression upon the beholder is that of a great 
church. By this I mean not simply a large building, but 
that every detail is of an exaggerated size, even the cupids 
upholding the vase of holy water being stout, muscular 
fellows, over six feefe in height. This same idea of exag- 
gerated size is carried through every part of the structure, 
and is the basis of the trite remark that St. Peter's is a 
monstrosity. The corner-stone of the church was laid in 
1406, and the structure was not finally completed until 
1614, a period of two hundred and eight years. It is said 
to occupy the site of St. Peter's burial place, and near 
the scene of his martyrdom. The original plan was that 
of a Greek cross, but this was afterward changed to 
that of the Latin cross. The building is six hundred 
and thirteen feet in length, and four hundred and fifty 
wide across the transepts. The arch of the nave is one 
hundred and fifty-two feet high, and ninety wide. Fancy, 
my dear Bucyrians, a doorway through which the court- 
house of Crawford County could be passed readily, and in 
fact, a building twice as wide and with a tower nearly two 
times as lofty as that which graces the county's temple of 
justice. The diameter of the dome is one hundred and 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 345 

ninety-five feet and a half; from the pavement to the base 
of the lantern is four hundred and five feet; and to the 
apex of the cross, four hundred and thirty-four feet six 
inches. I have given these detailed dimensions to enable 
my readers to form an intelligent idea of the immensity 
of this, the largest church building in the world. We did 
not ascend into the lantern, as we might have dqne, but 
understand it is large enough to comfortably accommodate 
twenty men. 

The more I see of the antiquities the more I am lost 
in wonder. Visit, for instance, the Vatican, and spend a 
day wandering among the statues sculptured more than 
two thousand years ago. All, or nearly all, have been 
dug from the ruins of Rome. Another peculiarity in this 
ancient city is the fact that buried deep under the present 
are other cities, the accumulation of countless ages and suc- 
cessions of ruins. One church, dedicated to some saintly 
old fellow, whose name has slipped my memory, is built 
upon the ruins of another church edifice, and that in turn 
rests upon the ruins of a pagan temple. I use the term 
" countless ages " advisedly, because history utterly fails 
to even approximately designate the period of the founda- 
tion of Rome. We have all, as children at home and 
students at school, read the pleasant little fiction of Rom- 
ulus and Remus, those " babes in the woods," who were 
suckled by a wolf, but there is no pretense that such per- 
sons ever existed outside the mythology of the ancients. 
As well might it be claimed that Venus, Jupiter, Minerva, 
and the other heathen deities really lived and moved as 
that Romulus and Remus possessed a veritable existence. 

Elsewhere I have spoken of a species of idolatry that 
exists among the Catholic pilgrims to Rome, and another 
instance came within our observation at St. Peter's. There 
is a bronze statue of the not always amiable coadjutor of 



346 WHAT I SAW, 

the Savior, and it is the custom of faithful pilgrims to 
kneel and kiss the great toe of the right foot, which is 
slightly advanced, seemingly for that purpose. This toe 
has been kissed for so many centuries that positively it is 
worn nearly away, and soon 'the representative of the 
majesty and goodness of Heaven's gate keeper will have 
to be supplied with a new toe. This may be Christianity ; 
it may be a true and acceptable way of worshiping the 
living God, but I may be excused if I, with due humility, 
file an exception to it. 

It seems to me, even after looking through these pages 
of manuscript, that I have really said very little of Rome. 
But little can be said of the city, its manifold points of 
attraction, in less than a volume. Our impressions of the 
Rome of to-day are on the whole favorable. It presents 
to the eye an incongruous combination of ancient ruins 
and modern habitations, stately palaces surrounded by 
wretched hovels, yet there is an indefinable something 
about the very air that charms the visitor, and causes him 
to long for the opportunity to study it at his leisure. To 
the student of Roman history the city has an irresistible 
fascination. 

After five days spent in the city, we leave to-morrow 
for Pisa, Florence, Venice, Milan, Stuttgart, Heidelberg, 
Cologne, Holland, and London, leaving Paris for our next 
trip to Europe. 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 347 



XXVIII. 

(, 

Through Italy to Germany — Pisa, Florence, Venice, Milan, 
Munich, and Heidelberg — Italian Hotel Keepers and their 
Dark Ways — Contrast between Italy and Germany — How 
our Deutsche Brethren Drink Beer. 

Heidelberg, Germany, February 21, 1882. 

We spent five days in Rome, and suppose that during 
that time we saw about one-fiftieth of the interesting 
sights that are there to be seen. The tourist might re- 
main in Tlome for six months, and find every hour profit- 
ably and pleasantly occupied. Had I the time and the 
money to spare, there is no place of the many I have been 
where I would rather spend five or six months than in 
Home. But life is too short, and there are too many 
Romes to be seen, too many places that present attractions 
that are to be looked at and enjoyed. 

We left on the train for a two hundred mile run to 
Pisa, and just as we were leaving we received the news 
that the infamous Guiteau had received his deserts, or at 
least justice had taken an important step toward securing 
the end that has been so merited and so mysteriously de- 
layed. When I first heard it I gave expression to feel- 
ings of joyous satisfaction in a manner that undoubtedly 
attracted the attention of the mercurial Italians. I ad- 
mit that I shouted, threw up my hat, and in other ways 
created the impression that I was an escaped lunatic. 
Salutha endeavored to restrain me, and threatened to have 
me taken to Washington and passed through ■ an equally 



348 WHAT I SAW, 

tedious investigation regarding my sanity. All around 
the world, even among the half-civilized Hindoos, we 
have been constantly abashed by the covert insinuations 
and openly declared opinions that we as a nation were dis- 
gracing ourselves and building up basis for severe and 
lasting reflections upon America, by the judicial farce that 
has been played in Washington. If the creature is hung 
by the time we get home we will be nearer satisfied. 

Our route lay through the country near to the sea- 
shore on the west, for some two hundred miles, until we 
reach Pisa. The country through which we passed is 
devoted largely to wheat, which looks well, and is much 
further advanced than at home in the same season. Not- 
withstanding it was but the middle of February, the fruit 
trees were in bloom, and the general appearance was such 
as we usually have in the States in April. Nevertheless, 
there were severe frosts every night. I suppose the vege- 
tation is saved by the great dryness of the atmosphere. 
Rome is in latitude almost identical with that of Bucyrus, 
and why there should be the difference in the temper- 
ature is a problem in meteorology beyond my grasp. 

On Sunday morning, February 18th, we waked up to 
find ourselves in the beautiful city of Pisa. The town is 
noted almost wholly for the leaning tower. Of course we 
visited it first, and exhibited probably the usual amount 
of wonder why the concern does not tumble down. It is 
constructed of yellowish marble, seven stories in height, 
each surrounded with white marble pillars. It varies 
seventeen feet from the perpendicular. The entire height 
is one hundred and seventy-eight feet. As I have said, 
every body wonders why it does not fall. I do not. The 
reason is readily seen. It does not lean far enough, or to 
express the idea in more obscure language, the line of 
perpendicularity does not fall without the circumference 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 349 

of the apex. The history of this remarkable pile would 
doubtless be interesting to my readers, but I must con- 
fess that if I was ever acquainted with it it has slipped my 
memory. 

The city of Pisa possesses some architectural monu- 
ments of interest, such as the usual variety of elegant 
churches, cathedrals, etc., all dedicated to some saintly 
defunct. The river Arno passes through the city, and is 
spanned by a number of bridges, the principal one of 
which is built of pure white marble. The University of 
Pisa is one of the oldest in Italy. It has four colleges, 
with forty professors, a library, a botanical garden, and 
an observatory. On the square surrounding it are many 
public buildings, built for the most part of marble, and 
of a very elegant appearance. The mildness of the cli- 
mate makes of Pisa a health resort of considerable pop- 
ularity, and the celebrated bathe in the city attract visitors 
from a great distance. The foundation of the city dates 
back several centuries before the Christian era, but it was 
not until the tenth century that it assumed any com- 
mercial importance. We visited the cathedral, a very 
fine structure, but tame Avhen compared with St. Peter's 
in Rome, or some of the temples, mosques, and tombs of 
India. We have both decided that no more cathedrals 
shall be shown to us. In St. Peter's and the Taj Mahal 
at Agra, we have seen the great architectural wonders of 
the world, and we are not willing that our impressions of 
grandeur shall be spoiled by interpolating any thing in- 
ferior to the standard thus established. 

On the following day we left for Florence. We passed 
along the banks of the Arno, and over a well cultivated 
country. The city of Florence we found to well sustain 
its exalted reputation for the beautiful in painting, stat- 
uary, and mosaics. As much can not, we think, be said 



350 WHAT I SAW, 

for the general appearance of the city. Possibly we have 
been spoiled and our sense of appreciativeness deadened 
by six months of wandering amid the wonders of the 
world. Our explorations were conducted mostly on foot, 
a means of locomotion which possesses advantages not to 
be overlooked in a strange city. We found much to ad- 
mire, both in the city itself and in its surroundings, but 
nothing which justifies the enthusiastic declaration that no 
other city equals Florence in elegance. Florence is lo- 
cated in a valley, surrounded by the Apennine mountains, 
and the river Arno divides the city. There are a great 
number of fine edifices and squares, usually adorned with 
statues or fountains. There are no less than one hundred 
and seventy churches, eighty-nine convents, an indefinite 
number of palaces, twelve hospitals, and about a dozen 
theaters. Some of these edifices are described as "the 
finest in Europe." That is an expressive and compre- 
hensive term at first glance, but it really amounts to very 
little. The number of palaces, churches, and other build- 
ings that have been by travelers described as " the finest 
in Europe" can not readily be numbered on the fingers. 
Palaces in Florence do not mean the residences of royalty. 
Private dwellings are so called when their extent is 
deemed sufficient to justify the use of the extravagant 
expression. These palaces are universally ancient piles 
of granite, of a square, cumbersome, solid appearing form, 
fronting from two to three hundred feet, of considerable 
but not proportionate height, flat roof, and heavy project- 
ing cornice. The idea of the architects seems to have been 
solidity at the expense of elegance. There is a gloomi- 
ness, a dark, forbidding air about these massive buildings 
that is oppressive to the mind of the tourist. The visitor 
can not disabuse his senses of the impression that it is a 
prison, and his eyes wander involuntarily in search of the 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 351 

iron doors and triple barred windows, while the ears are 
constantly on the alert for the sound of clanking chains 
and the voices of prisoners. 

~No Italian city but has its ancient pile, devoted to 
the general worship of God, and the special adoration of 
some self-sacrificing old fellow who fancied a virtue in an 
ascetical detestation of the means of enjoyment provided 
by nature, and sought happiness in the sacrifice of every 
human aim, in the endeavor to reach the degree of fancied 
perfection that had been placed, by the fanatical teachings 
of hie church, as the goal of all goodness. As a result, 
some kind old pope has canonized him, and thencefor- 
ward he has been known as a " saint." Florence has one 
of these, with the only and remarkable exception that it 
is not named for any saint. It is known as the " Duomo," 
and is a magnificent structure, about five hundred feet in 
length and nearly four hundred in height to the top of 
the cross. It is constructed of brick, veneered as it were, 
with thin slabs of party-colored marble, set on edge. It 
has, therefore, the same appearance as if built solidly of 
marble. The building was two hundred years in con- 
struction, having been begun in 1226, and completed in 
1426. Of the number of bridges which span the Arno, is 
one particularly noticeable, being built of white marble, 
and with a design which, for combined beauty and solidity, 
has never been excelled by more modern architects. 

We remained in Florence but one day, and then passed 
on to Bologna. The road ascends the Apennine Mount- 
ains to the height of twenty-one hundred feet. There 
are on the road no less than forty-three tunnels. Passing 
the summit, we descended on the eastern side to Bologna. 
We stopped only for dinner, and sped onward to "Venice, 
over a flat country, where the industry of the agricultural 
population is devoted almost wholly to the cultivation of 



352 WHAT I SAW, 

grapes and olives. The farmers were plowing for the 
Spring crop, and I noticed that the furrows were very- 
deep. The soil has an appearance of exceeding richness. 
I was struck by the substantial appearance of the farm 
houses and barns. All are either stone or brick, and for 
the whole distance of two hundred miles, not a wooden 
building is to be seen. 

There is little new that any one can write of Venice. 
It has been so often and so minutely described that it has 
become as familiar as an old and oft-told story. The first 
impression upon the visitor is that of an overflowed city, 
where the waters have pressed through the streets and 
surprised the inhabitants, who are being rapidly trans- 
ferred to a place of safety. Venice is built on one hun- 
dred and seven islands, and almost literally in the water, 
as the site was originally but salt-water lagoons, and 
every building of the city, from the elegant church of St. 
Mark's and the stately palace of the Doges to the hovels 
of the lazarettos, has for its foundation piles driven deep 
into the soft and water-soaked soil. The islands upon 
which the city is built are separated by narrow channels. 
These are utilized as thoroughfares, and while they are 
termed canals, and really are such in the literal sense of 
the word, yet are not, as might be supposed, of artificial 
construction. Some of these islands are much larger than 
others, and have short streets or alleys of solid earth, but 
as a general thing the islands contain but a solid block 
of buildings, whose only means of communication is by 
water. With the exception of the Grand Canal, about a 
hundred feet wide, the water thoroughfares are narrow. 
Boats, known as gondolas, serve the universal purpose of 
vehicles, as horses and carriages in Venice are unknown. 
The circumference of the city is about eight miles, and 
the number of canals consequently very great. Being 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 353 

natural conduits, there is no regularity in the system of 
watery streets, and not even the ancient cow-paths which 
tradition tells us formed the basis of the plan of Boston, 
excel them in irregular intricacy. The Grand Canal is, 
however, a spacious and handsome thoroughfare. It is 
spanned by but one bridge, the picturesque and shapely 
Rialto, constructed of pure marble. The celebrated Bridge 
of Sighs spans the canal called the Rio Palazzo, and is so 
named for the reason that it connects the old prison with 
the Doges' palace, and across it were conducted the pris- 
oners to receive their sentence and its execution, the one 
following immediately after the other. 

Venice is regarded as one of the finest cities in Europe. 
For centuries it was the capital of the first maritime and 
commercial state in the world, of immense wealth and 
commanding influence. Consequently it contains propor- 
tionately a larger number of public buildings than any 
other European city. Among the national edifices must 
first be mentioned that, stupendous building, the pride 
and glory of Venice, the ducal palace and cathedral of 
St. Mark. It forms three sides of a square, and is the 
grandest and most stately quarter of the city. The square 
of St. Mark, with its arcades, its fine and elegant shops 
and cafes, the vast grandeur of its palace and its mag- 
nificent cathedral, presents a picture of beauty that is 
scarcely surpassed elsewhere. The foundation of Venice 
was laid in 421, as a place of refuge during the invasion 
of Italy by Attila, but the prosperity and power of the 
republic dates from four hundred years later. The jealous 
rivalry of Genoa resulted in a war which continued for 
nearly a century, ending with the absorption of the former 
city by France, in 1396. The greater part of the follow- 
ing century was devoted to a war with Turkey, in which 

the Venetians were badly worsted, losing many of their 

23 



354 WHAT I SAW, 

provinces in Greece, and the Ionian Islands. The dec- 
adence of Venice dates from the discovery of the route 
to India by way of the Cape of Good Hope, early in the 
sixteenth century, and at the beginning of the present 
century it became an easy prey to Napoleon's scheme for 
the formation of a Cisalpine republic. Upon the down- 
fall of the great Corsican, in 1815, and the administration 
upon his estate by the powers of Europe, Venice fell to 
the lot of Austria, by which power it was held until the 
close of the brief but sanguinary struggle between Austria 
and France and Italy, in 1866, when it was ceded to the 
latter power. 

We found the atmosphere rather sharp for the keenest 
appreciation of a gondola ride, and soon abandoned it for 
a walk through the narrow streets on the islands. We 
found as fine stores and as handsome a display of goods 
as can be seen anywhere. Primitiveness is one distin- 
guishing feature of Venice, though, perhaps, not to a 
greater extent than some other European cities. We saw, 
for iu stance, mechanics manufacturing nails by hand. In 
reply to my remark, that in America we made a better 
article at the rate of more than sixty a minute, the work- 
man gazed upon me with a look of mingled surprise and 
pity, and I have a well defined idea that he considered me 
a harmless lunatic who had escaped from restraint. In 
the manufacture of fancy glassware and mosaics, however, 
the Venetians are far in advance of America. The latter 
are particularly fine. I am told that the entire ceiling of 
St. Mark's, representing the creation, the flood, the apos- 
tles, etc., is mosaic. I found it impossible to disabuse my 
mind of the impression that the scenes are paintings. 

Venice claims the honor of the first establishment of 
a banking house in Europe. I had the satisfaction of 
looking in upon the building, and speculating upon the 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 355 

vast system of finance which has grown from this humble 
beginning. 

We spent two days in Venice, and left for Milan, a 
distance of one hundred and ten miles to the west. We 
took the morning train and passed over the plains of 
Venetia to Lombardy, with but little ascent for the entire 
distance. The country is devoted largely to wheat and 
grapes. The soil seems very productive, and the former 
crop looks well, being apparently as far advanced as with 
us in April. Not a fence is to be seen during the entire 
distance. There are no natural forests, but all the dirt 
roads are lined with trees, forming a grateful shade. This 
planting of trees prevails, I have noticed, in Japan and 
India as well as Italy. 

Milan is one of the most ancient cities in this historical 
Italy. It is supposed to have been founded by the Gauls, 
and was annexed to the Roman dominions about two cen- 
turies before the birth of Christ. In the fourth century 
it held the rank of sixth city in the Roman Empire. It 
is said by travelers to be one of the finest and most pleas- 
ing cities in Europe. It is circular in form and surrounded 
by a wall ten miles in circumference. Like all old cities, 
however, its beauty is greatly marred by being very 
irregularly laid out. The most remarkable of its many 
fine buildings is the cathedral, built of white marble, with 
three hundred and sixty-five spires, each capped by a 
statue. It is an imposing structure, of the Gothic style 
of architectere, four hundred and eighty-five feet long, 
two hundred and fifty-two wide, with a dome three hun- 
dred and fifty-five feet high. Included in the adornment 
are no less than four thousand five hundred statues. The 
city surpasses any we have seen in Italy for fine streets 
and stores. We remained two days, and improved the 
excellent opportunity for making some needed purchases. 



356 WHAT I SAW, 

Early in the afternoon we left the city for Verona, our 
route passing over the Lombardy plains, skirting the base 
of the Alps, on which the snow line appeared uncomfort- 
ably low, and caused numerous chills to pass over us, 
combined with mental observations suspiciously like a 
longing for the perennial warmth of India. We arrived 
at the beautiful little city of Verona, where we lay for 
three hours, waiting for a train on the northern road, 
which would transfer us in a few hours into the dominions 
of Kaiser Franz Josef. 

We meandered extensively through Italy. Making 
our entry at Brindisi, on the south-east, we passed to the 
west, thence up the west coast, and again through to the 
north-east, and then to the north-west, half through again, 
and once more back to the northern central part, from 
whence we proceeded northward through Austria. 

Our experiences in Italy would have been wholly pleas- 
ant, but for one serious obstacle to complete happiness — 
the hotels. Some of them are good, their accommodations 
more than passable, and the attendance common to good. 
But the landlords are the most complete, unblushing, un- 
deviating, unmitigated scoundrels to be found elsewhere 
outside of — well, a much warmer place than Italy. Every 
attache of a hotel in the Italian dominions, from the pro- 
prietor down to the most insignificant menial, is a liar of 
monumental proportions, who seeks to prey upon the trav- 
eler, and treats with flippant contempt his demand for ful- 
fillment of a verbal contract. Unless a traveler in Italy 
submits quietly to being robbed, his experience is a con- 
stant warfare. It seems to me that the bandits who for 
years made travel in Italy unsafe have forsaken the mount- 
ains and taken possession of the hotels. This, understand 
me, is not the plaintive whine of a victim. The aggre- 
gate of the extortion which I have suffered in Italy will 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 357 

not exceed five dollars, but the war has been exceedingly 
trying to my nerves. For the time being I almost re- 
gretted my conscientious scruples against profanity. Per- 
haps a chapter or two of vigorous and well-rounded Buck- 
eye expletives would have had a terrorizing effect upon 
the robbers, as I know they would have relieved the 
pressure upon my feelings, which was kept continually 
near the danger point. 

I felt a positive relief when we had crossed the fron- 
tier into Austria. There always was a warm corner in 
my heart for the Germans. Not an attemj)t has been 
made since we crossed the line of Italy to rob us by ex- 
tortionate demands. When a German landlord tells you 
what your accommodations will *be and what you will 
have to pay for them, you can depend upon his word as 
fully as upon your own. This is only one regard in which 
the Germans are superior to the Italians. There are a 
thousand others, every one of which are noticeable before 
you have spent a day in either Austria or Germany proper. 

We left Verona and passed the frontier at the little 
town of Alia, where our baggage was inspected by the 
customs officers. This was a small matter, and did not 
detain us long. We passed through the Brener pass of 
the Alps, on up to Innsbruck, crossing a narrow neck of 
the Austrian Empire. Innsbruck is a handsome little 
German city, but we did not remain there long, and our 
route was continued northward. The scenery through 
this part of Austria reminds the tourist very much of the 
Pennsylvania road from Pittsburg to Altoona. At Inns- 
bruck we struck the river Inn, and passed north-east- 
wardly down the valley to Kurfstein, and soon after 
crossed the Austrian frontier into Bavaria. Here our 
baggage was again inspected, this time by the customs 
officers of Kaiser Wilhelm. We suffered not the slightest 



358 WHAT I SAW, 

inconvenience. We experienced a feeling of genuine re- 
lief when the familiar " sweet German accent " fell upon 
our ears. The German is the first language we have 
heard, except English, in our travels, of which we could 
comprehend a word. We arrived at Munich about dark, 
having been on the road from Milan since the morning 
of the previous day. This is more rapid traveling than 
we have been used to. We felt some satisfaction that, 
after months of wandering, we were finally within twelve 
days of New York and fourteen of home. At Munich 
we were quartered in a hotel in the heart of the city, 
and on the morning following our arrival started out to 
look at the novelties of the thoroughly German city. We 
found many customs similar to those that prevail among 
the worthy German immigrants of our own country. 

Munich, as my readers are doubtless aware, is the cap- 
ital of the former kingdom and now German dependency 
of Bavaria. The population is about two hundred thou- 
sand, and the city is noted, among many other things, for 
the manufacture, and consumption as well, of lager beer. 
Here beer drinking is not looked upon as it is in America. 
In Germany, and particularly in Munich, lager is not 
only a national but a universal beverage. The best as 
well as the worst elements of society frequent the beer 
halls and partake of the foaming liquid in seemingly lim- 
itless quantities. It is nothing unusual to see the tod- 
dling babe reach for its mug, and in the presence of, and 
aided by, its parents, drain it to the bottom. For some 
reason, the beer does not seem to have the demoralizing- 
physical, mental, and moral effect that the beverage in 
America does. Here you hardly ever see a drunken man, 
and broils such as are common in American beer resorts 
are almost unknown among the imbibers in Germany. 
The Germans are certainly the happiest of people, social 



AND ROW I SAW IT. 359 

in their habits, earnest in their friendships, and convivial 
in their customs. The family relations are almost uni- 
versally pleasant, and in most cases you will find in the 
evening resorts the jolly burgher surrounded by his fam- 
ily, or forming part of a group of families, as pleasant 
and care-free a gathering as can be found. No spirituous 
liquors are drunk. Another practice strikes the American 
as peculiar. Such a custom as "treating," that pernicious 
habit that prevails in America, is unknown in Germany. 
Every man drinks just as much as he wants and no more, 
and pays for it himself. The Germans take the only sen- 
sible view of this question. A proposition to purchase a 
German a hat or a coat would not be more offensive than 
a suggestion to pay for his beer. He would think you 
supposed he had no money, and would resent promptly 
the implied intimation that he was a beggar. 

The principal buildings of Munich are the cathedral, 
the new palace, the Jesuit church, and the royal palace. 
Located in Caroline Square is an obelisk, about one hun- 
dred feet high, formed for the most part of cannon cap- 
tured by the victorious Bavarians in the war with Russia 
in 1812. The city is noted for its fine galleries of paint- 
ings and sculpture, which are said to be unexcelled in 
Europe. The University of Munich has a world-wide 
celebrity, scarcely inferior to that of Heidelberg and 
Prague. Its library contains two hundred thousand vol- 
umes. The Royal Library, instituted more than three 
hundred years ago, contains more than four hundred thou- 
sand books and thirty thousand manuscripts. Munich is 
not usually spoken of as an old city, yet its founding dates 
back to the year 962. Here, in Europe, however, they 
do not consider any thing worthy to be catalogued with 
the antiquities unless it flourished before the Christian 
era. The city has, like most other European continental 



360 WHAT I SAW, 

towns, experienced many of the vicissitudes of war. In 
the fifteenth century it became the capital of Bavaria; 
was captured by Gustavus II. of Sweden in 1232, by the 
Austrians in 1704, 1731, and 1743, and by the French 
in 1800, from which time until 1813 Bavaria remained a 
dependency of France. 

As I have said, we found many things, not only in 
Munich, but elsewhere in Germany, to remind us of our 
German friends at home. For instance, at the former 
place we feasted upon kraut and spec, and for beds we 
had those delicious couches of down which woo sleep by 
the coziness of their comfort. As our blood continues 
thin, and the mercury at thirty degrees indicates bitterly 
cold weather for us, the enormous German feather beds 
are a luxury which we fully appreciate. As a country 
through which to make a wedding tour, however, Ger- 
many has its drawbacks, and I here insert a warning to 
my newly married young friends to avoid it. The reason 
is, the beds are all single. Another thing recommends 
Germany beyond any other country. It is the very para- 
dise of coffee drinkers. It is the first place in our travels 
where we have been able to procure a really good cup of 
this delicious beverage. Even in Ceylon, where the berry 
is indigenous, the article placed upon the table tastes like 
a decoction of putrescent mud and a very inferior quality 
of water. In short, the Americans and the Germans are 
the only people who make good coffee, and drinkable tea is 
unknown outside of Japan. 

I met at the breakfast table in Munich an American 
from Scranton, Penn., who was regaling every English- 
speaking guest with boasts of his travels through Europe. 
I waited patiently for a lull in his flow of words, which 
was a long time coming, and then, in as nonchalant a 
manner as possible, I spoke of the more interesting sights 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 361 

in Japan, China, Ceylon, and India. I hope to be par- 
doned for the semblance of egotism in my remarks, but 
the temptation was too great for me to resist, and I was 
more than a little amused by the surprise expressed on his 
face and the sudden drooping of his elevated feathers. 
He had many questions to ask, and we realized that our 
extended wanderings had merited us a considerable prom- 
inence among travelers. 

We remained in Munich over Sunday, and the follow- 
ing day left for Heidelberg. Traveling in Germany is a 
veritable " picnic," as we can speak enough of the lan- 
guage to make ourselves understood. For six months we 
have depended on signs, and, had it not been for our 
mutual companionship, I believe we would have half for- 
gotten how to talk. 

Munich we found a really beautiful city, with fine 
stone business houses, the streets clean and tidy, and the 
stores comparing favorably with London or New York. 
We left at seven o'clock in the morning, in the midst of 
a blinding snow storm, and passed through Augsburg, 
Ulm, Bruchsal, and Stuttgart, at none of which, however, 
we tarried. The country is a fine agricultural region, 
much more carefully cultivated than is the land in Amer- 
ica, for the same reason, undoubtedly, that the Japanese 
farms are so thoroughly tilled — the large population gives 
the people a choice only between studied cultivation of 
every foot of land and want. The wheat looks well, but the 
great demand for beer leads to the more general raising of 
hoj)s and barley. There is not a fence to be seen in all 
Germany, except that protecting the railroads. The train 
made good time, and at four P. M. we were in Hei- 
delberg, where we are stopping at the same hotel I pat- 
ronized during my travels in Germany twenty years 
ago. During the interval the city seems to have greatly 



362 WHAT I SAW, 

improved. We find the hotel accommodations very good, 
but we take our meals at a restaurant, on the score of 
economy. 

This morning an amusing incident occurred that illus- 
trates the disadvantages under which travelers labor who 
do not fully understand the language. "We thought our 
knowledge of the German was sufficient for ordinary cir- 
cumstances, but we do n't think so any more. On the 
occasion mentioned we desired for our matutinal repast 
coffee and boiled eggs. Such I ordered, or at least I 
thought I said for the eggs to be boiled, but I guess I 
did n't. Any way, the waiter brought the coffee, together 
with a cup of cold water and raw eggs. For the life of 
me I could not think of the German for " boiled " or for 
hot Avater, and we were for a time, to use a provincialism, 
" up a stump." After much orthoepical cogitation and a 
deal of gesticulation and other efforts at making myself 
understood, I got those eggs boiled, long after our appe- 
tites should have been satisfied. But I have it down fine 
now, and the next time I want boiled eggs I will know 
how to order them. 

Early this morning, despite the damp, muggy weather, 
we started out for a tramp to the old castle on the hill. 
The ruin of this old palace is one of the most picturesque 
in Europe, and is the first of many things which I felt an 
interest in after having seen once. It seemed like the re- 
newal of an old acquaintance. In one of the cellars of 
the old palace or Schloss is the celebrated Heidelberg tun, 
that immense cask concerning whose size so many apocry- 
phal stories have been told. It is, however, a monster of 
the cooper's art, and is said to have a capacity of two hun- 
dred and eighty-three thousand and two hundred bottles 
of wine. It was constructed in 1751, and has been empty 
since 1769. We wandered all through and around the 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 363 

castle, which has been written and talked about for hun- 
dreds of years. We noticed written over the stone doors 
names whose sound was strikingly home-like and familiar. 
From hence to Cologne the route will be the same 
over which I traveled a score of years since, but that 
through Holland will be new. The weather here is about 
like April at home, and they tell me they have had a very 
mild winter. From here we will go down the Rhine to 
Holland, where we will spend a few days before crossing 
the Channel to England. 



364 WHAT I SAW, 



XXIX. 

Germany, Holland, London — The Trip down the Rhine — A 
Short Tour through Holland — The Author in London — The 
Tower — Westminster Abbey, The Museum, Etc. — Why he 
did n't attend the Queen's Eeception. 

London, March 2, 1882. 

Here we can almost say with the melancholy Prince 

of Denmark, 

" I am native here, 
And to the manner born." 

After months of wandering, during which we have 
seen many of the different peoples of the world, we have 
finally reached that point in our travels where we feel 
almost that we are one of the people. The voices of the 
crowds that surge past us in the street have a familiar 
sound, and we have cast aside that sign language which 
for so long has served a good but never satisfactory pur- 
pose. When we desire to inquire concerning the best 
facilities for reaching a certain point, or wish to make 
purchases, or order our dinners, we use plain and copious 
English, with the assurance that our inquiries will be un- 
derstood. It is a satisfaction which we feel and fully 
appreciate. 

The next morning after the conclusion of my last letter 
we left Heidelberg for Mcntz, the route lying over as fine 
a farming country, perhaps, as can be found in the world. 
It seemed strange that there should be no fence except 
that guarding the track of the railroad. "We passed 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 365 

through Darmstadt and other cities and towns of greater 
or less importance, but having visited each of them dur- 
ing my brief tour through Europe some years since, I did 
not feel in them the interest that was aroused by places 
whose attractions were wholly new. German cities and 
towns do not change rapidly, and I see many things that 
have a familiar appearance. I was younger then, and 
reveled in the midst of surroundings for which I have 
little taste now. 

We have made it a point during our entire tour, so 
far as circumstances would permit, to travel only in day- 
time. The object is twofold. First, that nothing within 
the range of our observation shall escape us, and, second, 
that we may secure each night the rest and recuperation 
that fits us for the often laborious sight-seeing of the fol- 
lowing day. This plan we have carried out in Germany, 
and we flatter ourselves that but little in which we could 
feel an interest on our line of travel has escaped our notice. 
There is one point, however, to which I desire to direct 
the attention of my readers, which may serve, perhaps, as 
an apology for failing to note many things in Europe that 
would, perhaps, be of interest to them. We have been 
constantly traveling for six months, the scenes of each day 
changing as rapidly and as completely as the views in a 
kaleidoscope. We feel, not strictly a sense of weariness, 
but are unable to arouse the same degree of enthusiasm 
over the sights of Europe that, perhaps, would have come 
readily to us had it been first on our programme of for- 
eign travel. 

At Mentz we were quartered in a genuine German 
hotel, surrounded by all the cozy comforts for which Ger- 
man hostelries are distinguished. Such a supper as that 
which was served to us soon after our arrival would rouse 
the envy of a gourmand. The light wines of Germany 



366 WHAT I SAW, 

are noted everywhere, and we are prepared to add our 
testimony to the universal commendation. 

The more I see of the German people the more favor- 
ably am I impressed with them. They are genial, genteel, 
accommodating, companionable — and clean. The personal 
cleanliness of the people of all classes, and the universal 
neatness of the hotels and private houses, present such a 
striking contrast to other peoples whom we have visited 
that my readers will please not become weary of my reit- 
erated expressions of admiration. 

This trip around the world, in addition to the pleas- 
ures derived from viewing the many wonders of travel, 
has had another beneficial effect. It has tended greatly to 
liberalize our ideas, to make us more tolerant of the theo- 
ries and practices of those who hold conceptions of "the 
problem of life" differing from our own*. There is an 
appearance of sincerity even in the idolatry of the Bud- 
dhists and Brahmins that, while it may not deserve the 
respect of those who boast a more complete education and 
a higher civilization, yet it impresses the visitor with the 
conviction that they act in full accord with the light they 
have been given. Every word and every action of a 
Brahmin, Buddhist, and Mohammedan tends to convince 
the most skeptical that he firmly believes the theory of his 
religion and consistently observes the practices. Whether 
the theory and practice of all Christians are equally con- 
sistent, the experience of most of my readers will enable 
them to determine for themselves. From our stand-point 
these people are wrong, radically wrong, in both their be- 
lief and their mode of worship. To the educated Christian 
mind, their manner of giving expression to their venera- 
tion is not only absurd but extremely distasteful, but the 
query still remains, are they not, after all, better Moham- 
medans, Buddhists, and Brahmins than some unctious 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 367 

professors are Christians? They firmly and conscien- 
tiously believe they are right, and the problem of whether 
they are to be punished eternally for sins committed in 
ignorance is one which many persons may theorize upon 
weariedly and assume that they have solved, but the real 
solution must await the decree of a just and merciful 
Providence, " who doeth all things well." Casting aside, 
however, the eternal blessings which I, and I presume all 
of my readers, agree are to be derived from the teachings 
of the religion of Christ, and looking upon it wholly in a 
temporal sense, all must agree that Christianity is produc- 
tive of great good. The teachings of Buddha, 'Brahma, 
Mohammed, and Zoroaster may, as they undoubtedly do, 
seek to inculcate principles of virtue and equity as between 
man and man, but nowhere can be found as lucid, as be- 
neficent a principle of morality as is contained in the 
theory and example of the meek and lowly Nazarene. 
The experience of nearly two thousand years has shown 
that Christianity and civilization go hand in hand. Where 
the teachings of Christ and his apostles are accepted as 
the basis of religious belief and instruction, there is found 
the greatest progress and the fullest prosperity. To no 
one is this palpable fact more apparent than to one who 
has made a circuit of the globe and seen the different peo- 
ples in their every-day life. 

Having unintentionally wandered on into this homily 
upon a trite and worn subject, I had almost forgotten that 
my duty to my readers demands rather an account of the 
scenes and incidents of travel. 

Mayence, or Mentz, is one of the most ancient cities 
of Germany, having been established first as a military 
position by the Romans. It has not escaped the misfor- 
tunes of war, and during the past two hundred years has 
been successively occupied by the Swedes, the Prussians, 



368 WHAT I SAW, 

and the French. In 1707 it was formally ceded to the 
duchy of Hesse Darmstadt, and so still remains, possessing 
a nominal independence, but really a part of the great 
German Empire. Mayence is mainly distinguished as 
having been the cradle of the art of printing. Here 
Gutenberg lived, and here he gave to the world that great- 
est of all arts. The city is surrounded by a wall, and 
defended by an outer chain of fortifications. It is not 
distinguished for elegant public buildings, but the ancient 
electoral palace, now used as a custom house, the palace 
of the old Teuton knights, now the residence of the gov- 
ernor, and the churches of St. Stephen and St. Ignatius 
are worthy of attention. To these may be added the co- 
lossal bronze statue of Gutenberg and the statue of Schil- 
ler. Mayence is, next to Cologne, the principal depot for 
Rhenish produce in Germany. The population is about 
sixty thousand. 

"We left Mayence at eight o'clock in the morning on 
board a small steamer, so diminutive as to remind us of 
the life-boats on the ocean steamers of the East. The 
trip down the Rhine has been celebrated in song and 
story for countless years, but to us the scenery seemed as 
fresh and replete with interest almost as would have been 
an excursion through an unexplored region. One may 
read extensively and carefully of the scenes and incidents 
of travel, yet when they are brought within his own ex- 
perience they have a freshness that is little impaired by 
the knowledge he has secured from the writings of others. 
Of the Rhine I can only say that it is beautiful almost 
beyond comparison, finding perhaps its only parallel in 
our own Hudson from Poughkeepsie to Albany. To the 
traveler who stands upon the deck of a Rhine steamer the 
scene is like unto a massive panorama, a succession of 
startling surprises, where the interest in a passing view 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 369 

does not flag until it is succeeded by one of perhaps even 
more entrancing beauty. Nearly every crag or cliff is 
surmounted by the ruins of a tower or castle, silent re- 
minders of the feudal age, when petty potentates, lords of 
limited territory, warred with each other and found the 
greatest safety in castles that were nearly inaccessible 
The first wonder in the mind of the beholder is how 
these immense buildings were constructed in such seem- 
ingly wholly unapproachable points, which it would seem 
that only the birds of the air could reach. Where pos- 
sible, the mountains which border the river through almost 
its entire length have their sides terraced and planted in 
vineyards, another evidence of the tireless energy and 
frugality of the Germans. The most attractive part of 
the river is between Maycncc and Coblenz, it appearing 
there much like a succession of lakes, surrounded by lofty 
mountains, grand in their appearance, but mere miniatures 
when compared with the majestic Alps which border the 
Upper Rhine. 

We were fortunate in making the Rhine trip by boat, 
instead of the cars, as I did in my previous visit to 
Europe. Then I saw little of the beauty of the stream; 
now nothing escaped our observation. The captain of the 
boat was one of those jolly Germans who is never happy 
unless every one with whom he is thrown in contact is in 
the same felicitous condition. We were the only foreign- 
ers on board, and, as a consequence, received many favors 
not only from the officers but the passengers. What social 
merits can be named that are not perforce possessed by 
the people in a country where good, cheering wine is 
cheaper than water? I have never had the reputation of 
being a " wine bibber," but must confess that my heart 
warms in unison with my stomach over the light wines of 
Germany. It is cheap, cheaper than coffee, and composes 

24 



370 WHAT I SAW, 

the standard drink of the good people of Rhenish Ger- 
many, largely displacing the much vaunted lager beer, and 
producing a feeling of comforting exhilaration. 

It was eight o'clock in the evening when we arrived 
at Cologne, and breathed the atmosphere freighted with 
the " distinct and several smells." We were conducted to 
a hotel near the river, which we found cozy and in every 
way comfortable, where our renovated German served the 
purpose of making our limited wants known. Our appe- 
tites were not ravenous, and in response to the waiter's 
query of what we desired for supper we simply ordered 
"wein unt brod." A bottle of finely flavored sweet wine 
and a loaf of the softest and purest white bread were 
placed before us — a feast for a king; that is, provided 
said king was not very hungry. The landlord and his 
good wife were disposed to be talkative, and exhibited a 
degree of inquisitiveness that would have covered a Yan- 
kee Boniface with glory. I endeavored to be as accom- 
modating as my limited stock of German would permit. 
In answering their question as to whence we had been 
traveling, I took my hat and passing my hand around the 
brim indicated that we had been clear around the world, 
to Japan, China, and India, and explained that we were 
thus far on our return to New York. If a winged angel 
had dropped down between them the surprise of the 
worthy German couple could not have been greater. 
They seemed to look upon your correspondent as a verit- 
able phenomenon. True to the frugal German nature, 
their wonder took the finance form, and they spoke simul- 
taneously : " Mein Gott in Himmel! wae fael dich sae ga- 
cost?" My reply that the outlay was fully fifteen thou- 
sand marks added much to their astonishment. Such a 
sum seemed a fabulous fortune to these simple-minded 
Germans. "We chatted quite pleasantly, I endeavoring to 



AND HOW I SAW 1 T. 371 

add to their information, and at the same time to my 
limited stock of German. 

The next day was devoted to a ramble through the 
streets of Cologne. We went first to the great cathedral, 
finished within the last few years, after having been more 
than six hundred and fifty in building. It is a grand and 
imposing structure, albeit somewhat incongruous in its 
appearance, owing to the different architectural ideas that 
found expression in its building. When this is examined, 
the traveler has seen all that is really attractive in the 
city, unless one choses to delve among the ancient tomes 
of the extensive libraries, and study the history of what 
is one of the oldest cities of Germany. The city is built 
along the banks of the Rhine, something in the form of 
a crescent, is strongly fortified, and is connected by an 
elegant bridge with the town of Dutz, on the opposite 
shore. Cologne has been noted for untold years for its 
unsavory smells, and was the subject of one of Coleridge's 
most pointed epigrams: 

" The river Ehine, it is well known, 
Doth wash your city of Cologne ; 
But tell me, nymphs, what power divine 
Shall henceforth wash the river Rhine ?" 

It might be too much for me to say that the atmo- 
sphere of Cologne is impregnated with ultra disagreeable 
smells, but certain it is that a more pleasing aroma can 
be found than prevails in the vicinity of some of its chem- 
ical manufactories. As the name indicates, the city is 
largely noted for the manufacture of Cologne water. We, 
like others, bought a bottle of it, just so that we can boast 
of its genuineness, though I have not the slightest doubt 
as fine an article that never saw Cologne can be pur- 
chased of any druggist at home. The dog-carts in the 
streets attracted our attention. These dogs are large mus- 



372 WHAT I SAW, 

cular fellows, who drag through the streets with apparent 
ease carts heavily laden with produce. The carts are the 
favorite vehicles of the peasantry, and large quantities of 
produce are brought in them from the country. 

We remained but one day and two nights at Cologne, 
and were oif early in the morning for Amsterdam and other 
parts of Holland. It was with unfeigned regret that we 
departed from Germany. We will probably never see it 
again, as on our next trip to Europe we will go through 
Paris and Genoa ; thence direct to Egypt, via Brindisi ; 
then to the Holy Land ; and return through the Mediter- 
ranean Sea direct to New York. 

From Cologne to Amsterdam we passed through a 
country as level apparently as if it had been graded by 
a civil engineer. The first town we came to in Holland 
was Svenden, just across the line, where we passed the 
usual custom-house inspection. This was, however, largely 
a matter of form, and did not detain us but a short time. 
From this point to Amsterdam the country is a dead 
level, with alluvial soil, cut here and there with dykes or 
ditches, which seem to form the boundaries of farms or 
districts, and well serve the purpose of fences. A good 
deal of the land is very poor, the soil being of a dead 
sand formation, and covered with scrub pine. Portions, 
however, are quite rich, and such is carefully and exhaust- 
ively cultivated, the thrifty Dutch well knowing the value 
of thorough tilling. The farm houses and barns are under 
the same roof, yet there is about all an appearance of neat 
and inviting cleanliness. 

Amsterdam Ave found a quaint old city, interspersed 
with many canals, and also good streets, with four and 
five story brick and stone business houses, covered with 
red tile, which is throughout Holland the universal sub- 
stitute for shingles. There is little in the city to attract 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 373 

the attention of the traveler, beyond the canals and fine 
wide streets. The origin of Amsterdam was not unlike 
that of Venice, which it resembles to a very limited ex- 
tent. The site was formerly a salt marsh, and the city is 
built upon no less than ninety islands, which communicate 
by about three hundred bridges. As in Venice, the build- 
ings are constructed on piles, driven through the soft soil 
a distance of fifty feet to the harder formation beneath. 
In walking the streets and observing the canals, filled 
almost to overflowing, one can not dispel the impression 
that the city is liable at any moment to suffer from an 
inundation. Yet this seeming superabundance of water is 
a valuable means of defense to the city. The bed of the 
Amstel, or river, is provided with sluice-gates, which open 
allow the water to flow through the channels in the city, 
but closed would in a few hours flood the surrounding 
country. 

During the seventeenth century, when the Dutch dis- 
puted the rule of the sea with the Spaniard and English, 
Amsterdam was the metropolis of the commercial world. 
The growth of commerce in England caused her to retire 
from that proud position, but she still remains a place of 
great commercial importance, and is to-day the wealthiest 
city of its size in the world. The population is about 
three hundred thousand — as busy and as energetic a com- 
munity as can be found on earth. There is little of the 
hurry or bustle which we see in New York or Chicago, 
but instead, an appearance of confidence and solidity which 
can not fail to favorably impress the visitor. The city is 
divided into two unequal parts, connected by a magnificent 
bridge six hundred and ten feet long, and seventy wide. 
This viaduct is a grand specimen of engineering. The 
superstructure rests upon thirty-five arches, through some 
of which the tallest masts of ships pass with ease. 



374 WHAT I SAW, 

Leaving Amsterdam we found the country intervening 
before Rotterdam was reached but a repetition of that 
from the German line to Amsterdam. There are, perhaps, 
a few more canals, and a greater number of dikes and 
ditches ; but the flat country, neat houses, well cultivated 
farms, and frequency of gaunt-armed windmills, grew 
monotonous. It has nowhere been my fortune, unless 
upon the prairies of Illinois and Iowa, to travel through 
a land that presented fewer features of variety than Hol- 
land. The train whisks through one farm, with its quaint 
appearing dwelling and stable combined under one roof, 
and omnipresent windmill, and enters another almost pre- 
cisely like it. We passed through Haarlem, Delph, and 
many small villages, and reached Rotterdam at noon. 
Holland could all be seen in a week, and is well worth 
seeing once, but, as I have said, soon becomes monotonous. 

Rotterdam we found intrenched with numerous canals, 
and provided with good but mainly narrow streets. The 
day we spent there was Sunday, and we were struck with 
the great respect that was every where shown the day. 
It was as a revelation to us; we felt thankful that through 
the kindness of Providence we had been permitted to once 
more reach a Christian land. All the business houses 
were closed, and there was no evidence apparent that 
the phlegmatic Dutch have yet learned the back door 
scheme that is so popular in American cities. Our hotel 
fronted on a street and in the rear opened upon a canal. 
We found the accommodations not so good as in Germany, 
yet every thing was as neat and clean as they could be 
made. One could eat off the floor and still feel an assur- 
ance that his food was clean. 

Rotterdam is, probably, more than any other city in 
Holland, cut up by canals, one section of the city being 
so divided that these water ways provide almost the only 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 375 

means of communication. They are crossed at intervals by 
bridges. One feature adds much to the appearance of the 
city. The canals are nearly everywhere bordered with trees. 
This gives a novel and attractive look. The houses of 
Rotterdam are apparently constructed with a view to con- 
venience rather than elegance. They vary from two or 
three to six stories in height, and are of as many differ- 
ent styles of architecture as could be conceived. Appar- 
ently each builder had his own distinct idea of architec- 
ture, and followed it to the letter. 

Our stay in Rotterdam was brief, and we sailed at six 
P. M. for Harwich, England, a short trip of but eleven 
hours, bidding farewell to the continent of Europe, which 
we had traversed from south to north, greeting the ease- 
loving Italians at Brindisi, cultivating the genial and 
companionable Germans in Bavaria and the Rhenish 
provinces, and making adieus to the earnest but phleg- 
matic Dutch, in Rotterdam. We found the North Sea 
quite rough, but the experiences of travel have trans- 
formed us into staunch sailors, and we laughed at the 
waves and tried to convince ourselves that we enjoyed the 
pitching and rolling of the vessel. This sea is, I believe, 
in a constant state of uneasiness, and usually causes a 
sympathetic feeling of disturbance in the minds (and 
stomachs) of the ship's passengers. However brave we 
may have been, it was with a feeling of relief that we 
viewed from the deck, at an early hour the next morning, 
the cliffs of " Merrie England." The landing was made 
at seven o'clock. Harwich is an inconsequential place, 
seldom heard of in America, and owes what little import- 
ance it possesses to its position as the nearest port to 
Holland and Belgium, and its excellent harbor. The 
harbor is formed by the junction of the rivers Stour and 
Orwell, diminutive streams in themselves, but emptying 



376 WHAT I SAW, 

into a commodious estuary of the sea. We took the train 
at once for London and keenly enjoyed the short ride. 

Now, my good friends, what can I write of London 
that will interest you"? The great city is not by any 
means devoid of objects of interest, but the daily reader is, 
or should be, as fully acquainted with them as I am or 
can become during my short stay. Had I the time, I 
might employ what little descriptive talent I possess in 
telling you of the Tower, its history and its legends; the 
British Museum and its endless collection of curiosities; 
the Buckingham Palace ; the Parliament House ; West- 
minster Abbey; St. Paul's Cathedral; and so on, almost 
without limit; but, after all, would I be telling you much 
that you do not already know ? Would it not be to you 
like the repetition of an old story ? 

On the principle that business should always have pre- 
cedence of pleasure, my first visit was to the office of 
Cook & Co., under whose auspices we have traveled from 
San Francisco. I was anxious to learn how they were 
prepared to arrange with us for the loss of a large part 
of our tour, that through Egypt, Turkey, and the Holy 
Land. They unhesitatingly refunded me one thousand 
two hundred and fifty dollars of the sum we had paid 
them. This rebate was very welcome, of course, but I 
can truthfully say that to-da}- I would rather be delving 
among the ruins of ancient Karnak, Memphis, or Thebes, 
or familiarizing myself with the scenes of the Holy Land, 
than treading the streets of London. At the office of 
Cook & Co. we were informed that to this day no passen- 
gers from India are allowed to land in Egypt. 

We met an old friend in London. It was our family 
trunk! From Japan we shipped it ahead of us to China, 
and then again to Bombay, where we overhauled it in 
about three months. Once more we forwarded it, this 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 377 

time to London, not knowing just when we would see it 
again. To-day I got it out of bond, and it really had the 
appearance of an old acquaintance. The entire shipment 
cost me the munificent sum of two dollars. I wish I 
could travel half as cheaply. 

Naturally we longed for the glimpse of a familiar face 
and the grasp of a friendly hand, and we were not long 
in seeking the. whereabouts of Mr. Kratz, who has charge 
of the European branch of the Bucyrus house of M. Deal 
& Co. We found him alone in his office at No. 67 Mark 
Lane, and from him received the first news from home 
since leaving India. We spent one night with the family 
since we have been in London, and I think it not too much 
to say that few evenings during our somewhat extended 
lives have been more pleasantly passed. It was after 
1 o'clock when tired nature asserted itself, and we retired 
to our beds. Bucyrus friends and interests were discussed, 
and the home events of the past six months detailed for 
our benefit. We were sorry to learn that the relentless 
hand of death has been busy during our absence, and that 
there will be more than one vacancy in the circle of 
friends to greet us upon our return. Home events seem 
to succeed each other more rapidly when one is absent, 
and the summary so kindly given by our friend Kratz 
seemed to us like the history of more than a year. I was 
pleased to learn from Mr. K. that he is building up among 
these "blarsted Britishers" what will erelong prove an 
extensive and profitable business. He labors assiduously 
with that end in view, and certainly merits the complete 
success which seems to be almost within his grasp. 

In our peregrinations about this "metroplis of the 
world," we first visited Westminster Abbey, to secure a 
view of the tombs of the famous men of England. Most 
Englishmen live with but one ambition, that is to be 



378 WHAT I SAW, 

buried in Westminster. But few reach the goal, and thus 
the masses fall short of their standard of the sum of in- 
humed felicity. The building is one of the most ancient 
in this old city of London, having been constructed first 
by Edward the Confessor, between the years 1055 and 
1065. Of the original building, however, but a small 
part remains. The greater portion as it now stands was 
built between 1220 and 1230, during the reign of Henry 
III, although a portion was constructed between 1340 
and 1483, and the two towers on the north end are the 
work of Sir Christopher Wren, who died as late as 1723, 
and who was also the architect of St. Paul's Cathedral. 
Westminster Abbey is a noble building, though the full 
grandeur of its effect is marred and greatly hidden by its 
surroundings. Its total length is 511 feet; width, 203, and 
height, to the apex of the roof, 102. It is only after hav- 
ing passed into the interior that the visitor is enabled to 
reach a full conception of its grand proportions. Besides 
containing the tombs of the Tudor, Stuart and early 
Georgian lines, it is the burial place of many of England's 
most eminent men. At the end of the south transept is 
the "Poet's Corner," where rest the remains of Chaucer, 
Beaumont, Ben Jonson, Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden, 
Addison, Gray, Thomson, Goldsmith, Dickens, Macaulay, 
Bulwer-Lytton, and others who have shed luster upon the 
history of English Literature. In the north transept, the 
" Statesman's Corner," I noted the cenotaphs of Pitt, Fox, 
Chatham, Canning, Wilberforce, Palmerston, and others. 
It is strange, but the tomb of Disraeli is conspicuous by its 
absence. I was given to understand that he was buried 
elsewhere, in conformity with the wishes of himself and 
his family. Westminster is no longer the receptacle of the 
royal dead. I believe that George II. was the last ruler 
of England that was interred within its walls. Hours 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 379 

can be devoted to wandering amid these ancient tombs, 
and speculating upon the hollowness of the pomp and 
power that finds at last a common rest, where the pride 
and arrogance of royalty, and the ambitious glory of fame, 
mingle in the cold and unsympathetic mould of the grave. 

We paid our respects to the Parliament House — from 
the outside, as it was impossible to secure admittance. 
Why the building should be so rigidly closed against the 
public no one knows. Even when Parliament is in ses- 
sion, the would-be visitor must needs bring to bear strong 
influence before he can secure the boon of admission. 
Tickets are issued to the favored ones, and they are as 
eagerly sought for as the talismanic bits of pasteboard 
which admit to the circus are coveted by the small boy. 
In this connection we felt for British exclusivencss a con- 
tempt which we did not express. 

AVc next visited the Tower of London, that ancient 
pile that has been transformed by the lapse of time from 
a fortified castle to an armory and museum of curious me- 
mentos of the long past. The building is of itself a me- 
mento, a relic which binds the England of to-day to the 
England of many centuries since. Within its somber 
walls tragedies have been enacted and life dramas pre- 
sented that form long chapters in the history of the na- 
tion. The Tower is intimately connected with every 
period of English history. The date of its construction 
seems to be more than a little uncertain, but in the feudal 
days it was a vast fortress. It occupies a plat of twelve 
or thirteen acres, surrounded by a moat or ditch, which is 
usually dry, but can readily be flooded. The Tower pre- 
sents from the outside the appearance of a vast castellated 
wall, broken by massive flanking towers at frequent in- 
tervals. Within this outer wall rises another of greater 
height but inferior strength of construction. Within this 



380 WHAT I SAW, 

inner wall are the barracks, armories, etc., and within 
these the noted White Tower, where are located the an- 
cient prison cells. No difficulty was experienced in ob- 
taining admittance, and under the care of a guide we 
wandered at will. We were shown the prison of Lady- 
Jane Grey, the block upon which she was beheaded and 
the ax used in the bloody work. Every stone of this 
White Tower, were it blessed with the power of speech, 
could relate stories of the tragedies that largely composed 
the history of England during the centuries when the will 
of the not often scrupulous sovereign was the only law. 
We went to the Armor Room, where can be seen the me- 
tallic armor of the ancient kings and knights of Britain. 
These coats-of-mail and battle-axes indicate that the old- 
time warriors were lusty fellows, whose deeds of reckless 
daring were incited not more by ambition than physical 
capacity for endurance. 

St. Paul's Cathedral was next on our brief London 
programme. There we lingered but a short time, as tem- 
ples and churches have lost their charm for us. The Bank 
of England and the British Museum were passed in de- 
tail. The former is bewildering by its display of coined 
wealth. Millions of dollars in glittering gold or crisp 
notes pass before the eye at a glance, and the mind at 
once begins to speculate upon what wonderful things could 
be accomplished if the vast sums in sight were only in 
one's possession. We were conducted all through the 
bank, and courteously shown every feature of interest. 
At the Museum, hours — yes, days, weeks and months, 
could be profitably spent. My readers can not expect me, 
in these brief pages, to even cursorily notice the myriad 
of attractions which it would require weeks to even look 
at. I was greatly interested in the relics exhumed at 
Nineveh and Babylon, the sculptured winged bulls, etc. 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 381 

To-day is the queen's reception at Buckingham Pal- 
ace, and we drove past to see what might be seen. We 
did not attend the reception, as, for some reason, we are 
not down on Her Majesty's visiting list. Perhaps she 
does not know we are in the city. It was a great over- 
sight on our part not to notify her of our coming. We 
could not, however, be deprived of the privilege of stand- 
ing outside and watching the people go in, admiring the 
w T ell dressed ladies, fine carriages, richly caparisoned 
horses, etc., as well as the exquisite pleasure of being 
withered by the glances of the liveried footmen whose 
positions as flunkeys to some titled noodle has raised them 
several degrees above the level of common humanity. 
We endeavored to satisfy our curiosity by examining the 
stables of the queen, but even there we were denied ad- 
mittance. Just think of it ! A free American citizen, the 
representative of the glory and majesty of the bald-headed 
bird of freedom, turned ignominiously away from the 
stables of the queen of England ! My blood boils ! I 
want redress ! I demand protection ! I will see Freling- 
huysen about this as soon as I get home. Now, if the 
pugnacious Blaine was at the head of the State Depart- 
ment, I would feel more encouraged. I would be ac- 
corded the privilege of visiting the stables of the queen 
of England, or there would be war! As I turned away 
from the royal equine chambers I was mad, consumed 
with wrath, so to speak, and looked about me for the 
ubiquitous "yaller dog," upon which to vent my spleen, 
but even that pleasure was denied me. 

We will leave London to-morrow for Scotland, and 
will take a short tour through the north of Ireland before 
sailing for America. 



882 WHAT I SAW, 



XXX. 

Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast— A Visit to the Giant'* Cause- 

\v\v [MPRESSIONS in [RELAND LONDONDERRY IVL PHI VOY- 
AGE Across the Atlantic— Concluding Compliments to the 
" Blarsted Britishers." 

New York, March — . t88». 

1 have presumed so muoh upon the probabilities of 
the future as to date this letter in New York, l>ui al the 
moment of writing we are in the midst of the Atlantic 
Ocean, pitohing, rolling, and tumbling aboul in a dis- 
oouragingly miscellaneous manner; thai is to say, the ves- 
sel is, and, as a matter of I'aet, the passengers follow its 

example in a manner appealing at onoe to the sympathies 

and the sense of the Indierons ol* the looker, who invol- 
untarily participates in the mirth-provoking gyrations. 
II* there was any regularity in the rolling o\' the vessel it 
would not he so discouraging, but some especially aggra- 
vating lurch, destructive of mental equanimity and dis- 
mally disastrous to the physical equipoise, drives all the 
sentiment from him. The suddenness with which the cen- 
ter of gravity, under SUOh circumstances, is shifted with- 
out the body, and the latter seeks the horizontal position 
which is muoh easier maintained than the perpendicular, 

is bewildering. All the ocean experiences of our travel 

have been the perfection of calm peaeefnlncss compared 
with the tempestuous voyage across the Atlantic. The 
nautical education received on the Pacific and Indian 

oceans and the Mediterranean Sea did not avail us. On 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 383 

the Atlantic we are veritable land-lubbers, and both suf- 
fered greatly from seasickness. 

All this, however, is a long way ahead of ray story. 
We left London in the forenoon of the day following the 
conclusion of my last letter, bound for Edinburgh and 
Glasgow, in " Bonnie Scotland." The country en route was 
like a garden, the grass green, the trees in full foliage, and 
the land having the appearance of a most thorough degree 
of cultivation. The Winter wheat was looking fine, and 
gave promise of an abundant crop. We passed through 
Bedford, Leicester, Leeds, and Carlisle, besides an innu- 
merable number of smaller cities, towns, and villages — 
all seemingly busy hives of thriving industry. Of course, 
we are seeing all this section of the world at the most un- 
favorable season, and much earlier than we had expected 
to. Nevertheless, we see much in England, particularly 
the rural portions, to admire. The farm houses are uni- 
versally fine appearing, and the farms give unmistakable 
evidence of good care. Like other countries, however, 
such care is absolutely necessary, as land is so costly and, 
in case of lease, the rent is so high, that the farmers must 
per force till every foot to its utmost capacity. 

The distance from London to Edinburgh is three hun- 
dred and fifty-seven miles, and it was late in the evening 
when the train arrived. In my previous European jaunt 
I visited this ancient capital of Scotland, and then, as 
now, found many points of interest. So closely is Edin- 
burgh identified with the history of Scotland that the 
student of the latter must needs become acquainted with 
the stirring events that have made the former distin- 
guished. This city was founded in the sixth century, and 
history of two hundred years later speaks of it as a place 
of some consequence. To-day it is a fine city, with stately 
buildings, unexcelled schools, libraries, etc., but one which 



384 WHAT I SAW, 

could scarcely, from a commercial or manufacturing point 
of view, be spoken of as thriving. Its manufactures are 
confined almost wholly to the necessities of her own people 
and those tributary. The city is built upon three parallel 
ridges, running east and west. On the center of these 
was originally constructed the town, composing that part 
that is known as old Edinburgh. This ridge terminates 
abruptly on the west in a precipitous rock, where is lo- 
cated the celebrated castle of Edinburgh, at a height of 
four hundred feet above the sea. The date of the con- 
struction of this ancient pile has been lost from history. 
So far back as 1093, it is mentioned as having been the 
scene of the death of one of the Scottish queens. In 
1556, James VI., of Scotland, was born here. At the 
east end of the old town is the palace of Holyrood. This 
was founded in the year 1128, by the Scottish King David. 
It was destroyed by the English no less than three times, 
and was plundered by a mob once. On the lower and 
northernmost of these ridges of which I have spoken is lo- 
cated the new town, which is much more modern in ap- 
pearance than the old. Its streets and squares are of great 
beauty and regularity. On Calton Hill stands Nelson's 
monument, and near to that of Dugald Stewart and of 
Burns. The monument to Sir Walter Scott is located in 
Prince's Street, and is very attractive. Edinburgh has 
long been noted for its educational facilities, and is prob- 
ably not excelled, if equaled, by any city in the world in this 
regard, and in the intelligence and refinement of its people. 
In our perambulations about the city we visited most 
of the points of interest, including the palace of Holyrood, 
so intimately associated with the career of the unfortunate 
Mary Queen of Scots. We entered the chamber of Mary, 
where she, on the evening of the 9th of March, 1566, 
was supping with her favorite, Rizzio, an Italian music 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 385 

teacher, when her husband, Lord Darnley, at the head of 
a band of noble assassins, burst into the room, and drag- 
ging forth the uxorious gentleman from Italy, summarily 
put him to death. The usually practical Scots displayed 
unexpected sentiment by preserving the room in the same 
condition in which it was left by the tragedy. We were 
shown the stairway where the murder occurred, and looked 
upon the bed, now mouldering with time, where the beau- 
tiful young queen rested her shapely royal person, and 
the tapestry falling into decay. As I looked upon these 
mementos of the beautiful Scottish queen, my mind rev- 
eled in the stirring scenes that crowd upon each other, 
and make the sum of her sad life. I mentally followed 
her devious career, her successive quarrels and reconcilia- 
tions with Earl Murray, her illegitimate half-brother; the 
tragic death of Darnley, which the queen was more than 
suspected of having plotted ; her liaison with and subse- 
quent marriage to Earl Bothwell ; her final overthrow 
and abdication ; her flight to England, where her restless 
spirit led her into misjudged and unworthy intrigues ; her 
arrest and imprisonment ; her supposed secret marriage 
with the Duke of Norfolk; and the final scene, when the 
judgment of the court of forty-six nobles, chosen for the 
purpose of trying her, condemned her to death ; and, with 
the cool heroism of her race, on the 8th of February, 
1587, she went calmly to the block, at the age of forty- 
five years. Hers is a sad history, and nowhere are its 
events brought so forcibly and freshly to mind as amid 
the scenes that were familiar to her unhappy life. 

We drove through the city, and viewed its points of in- 
terest, admiring the thriftiness of the practical Scotch, and 
renewed our journey to Glasgow. It does not seem pos- 
sible that two cities of the same country, and distant only 
forty miles, could be so different in every material aspect 

25 



386 WHAT 1 SAW, 

as Glasgow and Edinburgh. The latter possesses no 
commercial importance whatever, and rests quietly upon 
its honors as one of the intellectual centers of Europe, 
while the former is classed among the most important 
commercial emporiums of the world. The difference be- 
comes apparent even before the visitor has left his hotel. 
The capacious streets of Glasgow are thronged with busy- 
crowds, intent upon business pursuits. I had been under 
the impression that Edinburgh was the older city of the 
two, but find upon examination that Glasgow was founded 
as long ago as 560, and is therefore about contemporane- 
ous with its mate. The older part of the city is badly 
built and as unattractive as any collection of buildings 
could be, but the new portion is well constructed, with 
spacious squares, wide streets, and elegant buildings. The 
city is so thoroughly devoted to commerce and trade that 
little except the varied and extensive manufactories, the 
shipyards that line the banks of the Clyde for many miles, 
and the shipping that constantly crowds the port, interests 
the tourist. Glasgow is singularly barren of historical 
interest, and there the ghoulish antiquary finds nothing to 
occupy his attention. 

One thing that perhaps more than all others aroused 
my admiration in Scotland, was the universal neatness. 
The farms are as trim and presentable as a well-culti- 
vated garden at home, all provided with commodious 
stone houses and barns. Nowhere in Scotland did we see 
a frame building of any kind. The yards and gardens 
are models, reaching almost to arboricultural perfection. 

We spent Sunday in Glasgow, and for the first time 
since we left home we found the observance of the day 
such as, to our ideas, fully comported with its solemnity. 
The Scotch people are noted for their stern, inflexible ad- 
herence to the strictest interpretation of the doctrines of 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 387 

Calvin ; they are undeviating believers in " foreordina- 
tion," "election," and "original sin," and while the Chris- 
tian Church elsewhere has become more or less liberalized 
in its ideas and practices, in Scotland it remains un- 
changed. The doctrine of eternal punishment in a lake 
of literal burning brimstone is still the favorite theme of 
the Scotch Presbyterians. Sunday among such a people 
scarcely needs to be described, particularly to those of my 
older readers whose youthful religious instruction was re- 
ceived in the Presbyterian school. During the hours when 
the worshipers were not either going to or returning from 
church, the streets of Glasgow were as deserted and quiet 
as the thoroughfares of a country village. The attendance 
at church seemed to be almost universal, or, if not, those 
who failed to attend kept closely to their homes. We at- 
tended church, and listened to a sermon that reminded me 
more of home than any we have heard for months. 

The weather here is perceptibly colder than at Lon- 
don, such temperature as we have at home during the 
same season. It is a fact not often recognized by Ameri- 
cans that England and Ireland are on the same parallel 
of latitude as Labrador, and that Scotland corresponds in 
distance from the equator with the cold, bleak, and barren 
regions of Hudson's Bay, a region that, while not wholly 
uninhabitable, is entirely unproductive. Notwithstanding 
this, the climate of London corresponds about with that 
of Tennessee, and that of Glasgow and Edinburgh with 
that of New York and Chicago. The great variation in 
the length of the days is noticeable in Scotland, by reason 
of its northern position. Just at present this is not ob- 
servable, because we are approaching the vernal equinox ; 
but in June, when darkness comes to us at home by half- 
past eight, at Edinburgh a paper can be easily read by 
daylight as late as ten, and the sun rises before three in 



388 WHAT I SAW, 

the morning. Per contra, in December, lights become 
necessary before three o'clock, and the sun does not rise 
in the morning until after eight. The variation in the 
climate between the western part of Europe and the east- 
ern portion of America is caused, as your readers are 
doubtless aware, by one of the unumbered beneficent pro- 
visions of Providence. Starting from the superheated 
waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea is a 
body known as the Gulf Stream, which, with an average 
width of about two hundred miles, flows north-eastwardly 
through the Atlantic Ocean and strikes the western coasts 
of England and Ireland, diffusing a warmth that produces 
the remarkable climate of those countries, and losing itself 
in the frigid waters of the Arctic Sea. Were it not for 
this immense body of warm water, guided and controlled 
by some unknown power or law of nature, England, Ire- 
land, and Scotland would be bleak and barren wastes, un- 
productive and almost uninhabitable by reason of the ex- 
treme cold. The immutability of the laws of nature is 
one of the most bountiful of the dispensations of Provi- 
dence. Science is wholly unable to account for the Gulf 
Stream, but the knowledge that the same power that con- 
trols it now will continue its guide through the countless 
ages of futurity is enjoyed by all. It is curious to 
speculate upon what would be the effect if this stream 
should cease to flow, and no longer carry to the shores of 
western Europe that warmth upon which the mild climate 
depends. The green hills and fertile fields would be trans- 
formed into barren wastes, where the hardy pine and moss 
lichen only would flourish. 

We took a steamer at Glasgow for Belfast at 6 P. M., 
and crossed over the Irish Sea, arriving at our destination 
early the next morning. Belfast is the commercial em- 
porium and manufacturing center of Ireland, being con- 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 389 

nected by rail with all parts of the country and by steam- 
ers with Glasgow, London, Liverpool, and other points, 
and next to Dublin is the most important. It is the 
head-quarters for the linen manufacture that has aided to 
make Ireland famous. The city has an unexpectedly 
modern appearance, with wide, airy streets, and fine busi- 
ness houses, and taseful dwellings, composed for the most 
part of brick. Located at the head of Carrickfergus Bay, 
its harbor is not excelled anywhere in Europe. From 
what we had heard and read during the past two years, 
Ave expected to find the Emerald Isle in more or less tur- 
moil, and perhaps on the eve of a bloody attempted rev- 
olution. We were agreeably disappointed. Every thing 
was as peaceful and quiet as the most inoffensive could 
desire. That part of Ireland through which we passed, 
from Belfast to Londonderry, is perhaps the most pros- 
perous. It is, also, but a small part of the country, and 
it would be unjust for us to base a comprehensive opinion 
of the condition of the Irish people upon Avhat we saw. 
It rained continuously during our stay at Belfast, and as 
a consequence our impressions of the city are neither as 
extensive nor as favorable as they might have been under 
more fortuitous circumstances. 

Our next point was Portrush, on the northern coast 
of county Antrim, from whence to reach the Giant's Cause- 
way, one of those remarkable geological formations with 
the existence of which most persons are familiar. As we 
passed through the country I judged the soil to be very 
good. Most of this part of Ireland is devoted to the cul- 
tivation of flax, and the linen mills are to be seen every 
few miles. I have not seen farming land anywhere that 
looks more productive or is kept in better condition. 
We arrived at Portrush about noon, and found it a pretty 
little village of about fifteen hundred people, among 



390 WHAT I SAW, 

whom the " swate brogue " and proverbial blarney flourish 
with prolific luxuriance. They, however, thoroughly sus- 
tain the Irish reputation for kindness and hospitality. 
There is not much to sustain the three hotels of the 
place, and nothing to rescue the town from the obscurity 
of unimportant Irish villages, except that it is the place 
from which visitors to the Giant's Causeway start, which 
point is eight miles distant, to be traversed in the noted 
"Irish jaunting car." 

On the morning of the 8th of March we made a bar- 
gain with " Pat," by which he bound himself to drive us 
to the Causeway and return after giving us ample time to 
examine it. Our driver was " a jewel," who regaled us 
with many quaint stories, and amused us by the con- 
tinuous flow of " blarney." " It is the loikes o' ye that I 
have been afther takin' befure ! Sure, an' it was meself 
that drew "Gineral Grant and Gineral Shurman ! " was his 
greeting, with which he hoped to induce us to patronize 
him. We did not know whether he told the truth, nor 
did it make any difference, as it was not probable that the 
car would move any more rapidly or smoothly because of 
having been patronized by the two eminent gentlemen 
named. The route lies over a good road along the sea- 
shore, for most of the distance between the bluffs and the 
water line, occasionally debouching into the open country 
by the bog lands. 

The Causeway, like other things we have seen, differs 
from the impressions formed by reading the descriptions 
of others, but was none the less curious for that reason. 
It is a platform composed of closely arranged colums of 
basalt, generally hexagonal or polygonal prisms of short 
irregular lengths, piled vertically. It is about twenty- 
five feet high, three hundred in breadth, and six hundred 
long. It had the appearance to me of a slide, reaching 



AND HO W 1 SA W IT. 391 

from the cliff at an, angle until it is lost in the sea. The 
columns of which it is composed are all about a foot in 
depth, and so neatly are they fitted together that it is dif- 
ficult to disabuse the mind of the impression that it is the 
work of human hands. These pieces of rock, about a 
foot in depth, are piled neatly upon top of each other and 
give the appearance of a continuous column from top to 
bottom. Among the millions of columns no two are of pre- 
cisely the same shape. Some are triangular, others quad- 
rangular, sexagonal, septagonal, octagonal, etc., each side 
fitting with mechanical exactness to that of its neighbor. 
If the visitor has the curiosity to displace one of the 
stones, he will find that beneath just like it, except that 
the lower surface of the upper one is concave and fits 
upon the convex top of the one beneath. The stone is of 
a dark blue cast of color. After passing over the top, the 
visitor should descend and examine it from below, and 
thus he will be able to form an intelligent idea of its 
peculiar formation. It is difficult, perhaps, to give the 
reader a thorough idea, but he can imagine a pavement 
constructed of blocks of stone cut on the edges at irreg- 
ular angles, but each fitted completely to the angle of the 
one next to it. Then imagine that this pavement, instead 
of being composed of thin stones, is formed of a continua- 
tion of stones piled with mathematical precision one upon 
aD other to the height of twenty-five or thirty feet, and you 
have an impression of the Giant's Causeway as it really 
appears. It is well worth the inconvenience and expense 
of a visit. Tradition, or rather Hibernian mythology, 
credits its construction to a race of giants, who contem- 
plated an immense viaduct upon which to cross into Scot- 
land. Science, that ruthless iconoclast, however, strips 
this story of its attractiveness, and shows that the for- 
mation is one of the inexplicable freaks of nature. We 



392 WHAT I SAW. 

examined it on every side to our entire satisfaction, and 
then climbed the hill to where our carriages were waiting 
and returned for a late dinner at Portrush. 

All that part of Ireland has more potatoes than they 
can consume, and they are freely offered for ten cents per 
bushel. The crop, they told me, was last year five times 
better than was ever before known, and I understand 
large consignments have been shipped to America and 
sold at a good profit. For the land in this part of the 
country, the peasants pay an annual rental of fifteen 
dollars per acre. The problem of how they can pay such 
a price and sell the potatoes at ten cents a bushel is 
one which I will not attempt to solve. The town, and 
most of the country around, is the property of Lord 
Antrim. The American Board of Foreign Missions has 
built a neat and pretty church and parsonage at Portrush, 
and for the site they had to pay Lord Antrim twenty-five 
cents a square foot. The said lord is a poor poverty- 
stricken wretch, with only a few millon dollars between 
him and want, and, perhaps, he was really generous in 
not asking more for his land. Our hotel, the "Antrim 
Arms," was in every way commendable, and as pleasant a 
place as one would care to patronize. I think the town 
would be a delightful resort in the Summer, but at this 
season the experiences of the visitor are not wholly 
pleasant. 

We left the same evening for Londonderry, the last 
point in our foreign travels, and arrived at nine P. M. 

Of all the surprises we have met during a tour of 
fully twenty-five thousand miles, the strangest, the most 
thoroughly astounding, awaited us at Londonderry. It 
was a mysterious appearing package, containing a remit- 
tance of £5. It seemed that in paying our bill at the 
hotel in Glasgow I had given the cashier a £10 note, in- 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 393 

stead, as I thought, £5, and the proprietor, knowing we 
were to sail from Londonderry, forwarded it to me! Such 
honesty is phenomenal, and increased my previous good 
opinion of the Scotch people several degrees. For the 
benefit of American travelers, I give the name of the 
hotel, and commend it to them. It is " Cranston's Wa- 
verly," 185 Buchanan Street. It has many recommenda- 
tions besides the honesty of the proprietor. It is a 
strictly temperance establishment, neat and clean, com- 
plete in its accommodations and reasonable in its charges. 

Londonderry we found a busy, thriving seaport of 
some thirty thousand people. It is one of the oldest 
towns of Ireland, and was formerly surrounded by a wall, 
picturesque portions of which still remain. The site is 
quite hilly, and I judge that the location is very healthy. 
The harbor is both commodious and deep, and it has an 
extensive trade with the United States and other parts of 
the world. The city has expanded much beyond the old 
walls, and this former defensive line is seemingly pre- 
served solely as a relic of the past. The town occupies 
both sides of the river Foyle, which here empties into the 
sea. Londonderry is the seaport for all the north of Ire- 
land, and is the point of departure for all the emigrants 
from that section of the country. In the sixteenth cen- 
tury the town was closely besieged from December to 
August, by James II. of England, and beyond this it has 
no historical importance. 

I found, in our brief travel through Ireland, that 
people can read in the papers many thrilling incidents 
which the residents of the country never heard of. In 
fact, we scarcely heard that there was any trouble or dis- 
content among the people. It is but fair to say, however, 
that our experience and facilities for observation were 
very incomplete. The part of the country which we 



394 WHAT 1 SAW, 

traversed is firm in its loyalty to the British crown, and 
it would be manifestly unjust for me to judge of the con- 
dition of affairs from the small part we saw. We were 
told that the agitation is largely due to the ambition of a 
few leaders to foist themselves into prominence and at the 
same time profit by the discontent which they have aided 
to engender. The contributions of the enthusiastic friends 
of Ireland in America largely find their way into the 
pockets of these agitators. I can not, of course, assert 
that this view of the matter is correct, but this much I 
can say : The day when England will concede the free- 
dom of Ireland is as distant as the millenium, and while 
concessions may be secured from time to time in the fu- 
ture, as they have been in the past, nothing is gained 
by appeals to the passions of men, or money contributions 
to a cause which can never succeed. An attempted revo- 
lution in, Ireland could but prove crushingly disastrous to 
the people. This is the history of the past, and will be 
the history of the future. Of the justice of the cause of 
Ireland, I have no opinion to express. Doubtless the 
Irish people have their grievances, and naturally hope for 
relief from the rule of England, but whether they would 
be benefited thereby is a question to be considered sec- 
ondary to a recognition of the futility of their endeavors 
to reach that goal of their ambition. 

Bidding farewell to Ireland and Europe, we went 
down Loch Foyle, in a steam tug, to the little town of 
Moville, where we were to intercept the steamer Anchoria, 
en route from Glasgow to New York. On board the tug 
were two hundred Irish emigrants. Our connection Mas 
complete, and in an amazingly short space of time we 
were transferred to the steamer, a few to the saloon, but 
the mass to an unexplored depth below, known as the 
steerasre. On board were about four hundred German 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 395 

emigrants, all, with thousands of others, fleeing from the 
fateful military conscription of the Faderland. We have 
twenty saloon passengers, mainly well-to-do Scotchmen, 
bound for Iowa or Dakota. They are unusually well in- 
formed concerning America and the resources of the 
country which they have selected as their future homes. 

We had hardly been two hours out from Moville until 
it began to blow a gale, and this unsatisfactory state of me- 
teorological affairs has continued with wearisome regularity 
to the present. The seventh day out was the first that 
that we could walk on deck. For seven days a constant 
gale blew from the west, or dead against us, and it was 
with difficulty that the steamer could make eight miles an 
hour. On the eighth day we were only half-way over. 
We have a genial captain, a full-blooded Irishman, whose 
heart is as big as an ox, and a man of strict temperance 
habits, filled with all the love of jollity that distinguishes 
his race. He does all he can to cheer up his passengers 
and drive away seasickness, which all of us have had to 
pass through. It was not until the eighth day out that 
all the passengers appeared at table. All the bad weather 
we experienced through the Pacific and Indian Oceans 
and the Red and Mediterranean Seas combined would not 
equal the disagreeableness of one hour on the Atlantic. 
The tenth day out we encountered many icebergs, and 
had to move very cautiously in order to avoid them. On 
the 2 2d we gladly greeted the American shore. To those 
whose eyes had never rested on the " land of the free," 
the sight gave rise to thoughts and words of hopeful ex- 
pectation. To us it was a doubly welcome sight. It is 
our countiy ! Beyond that dark, cloud-like bank is our 
home! There are our friends! There awaits our welcome 
after months of wandering ! 

I can not close this, my last letter from abroad, with- 



396 WHAT! SAW, 

out once more paying rny regards to the English people. 
They are to be found everywhere. No country, no city, 
no means of conveyance have we found that was free 
from their too often unwelcome presence. To their idea, 
no one can possess an atom of information upon any point 
superior to them ; no country is so intelligent and refined 
as theirs, and the representatives of all nations must stand 
aside to give the Englishman precedence. So far as my 
experience extends, and most of my readers will admit 
that it is not circumscribed, they are not, as a people, 
either refined or intelligent. The most disgusting boor- 
ishness which I have met among civilized people has been 
exhibited by Englishmen ; the most phenomenally pro- 
found ignorance to be found among enlightened people is 
to be encountered among the English. I have seen in 
the East more drunkenness among English officials than 
could be met anywhere in America outside the slums of 
the larger cities. I have seen a minister of the Church 
of England so drunk within an hour after conducting re- 
ligious services that he could not walk across the ship's 
cabin. I have had questions concerning America that 
would have sounded silly coming from the lips of a four- 
year-old child, propounded to me by English men and 
Avomen of pretended intelligence and education. Some 
of these I have heretofore detailed; others are of more 
recent occurrence. For instance, one arrogant taurine 
Johnny on board this vessel, with all the pomposity that 
a conscious superiority could assume, inquired of me if 
we had any religion in America. I was tempted to reply 
like the German did to the stuttering customer, who 
wanted to know if his parrot could talk : " Veil, if he 
talk no petter as you, I cut his d — d head off!" I could 
have told him with equal zest that if the quality of our 
religion was not better than that presented by the Church 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 397 

of England, we would be better without ; but I forbore, 
and answered that he would doubtless find sufficient to 
supply all his pressing demands. Another, a lady, asked: 
" Have you any drug stores in New York, where I can 
get some camphor when we land?" Now, this, as the 
boys say, " broke me all up ;" it " made me tired," and I 
simply answered "yes," and walked to the other end of 
the saloon to conceal, if possible, my disgust. While our 
experiences with the English people has not at all times 
been pleasant, yet I can not close this volume without 
paying them one merited compliment. Many officials, both 
civil and military, as well as the officers of English ves- 
sels on which we have traveled in different parts of the 
world, are models of courtesy and attention. They have 
little of the selfish vanity which distinguished many of 
those who were our fellow travelers. Most of the class 
whom I have excepted are educated gentlemen whose in- 
stincts are those of gentility, and whose positions demand 
the utmost courtesy. 

Our journey is now about to an end, and as I write 
these lines we are steaming up New York Bay, past the 
forts, Staten Island, and the thousand and one other wel- 
come sights to the eyes of returning wanderers. We will 
land in an hour, and I will endeavor to curb the force of 
a habit I have acquired, and omit a brief historical sketch 
of the American metropolis and its points of interest. 

Our circle of the globe is near complete, and to the 
many kind friends who have followed us through these 
rambling sketches, we return our sincere thanks, hoping 
that their perusal has helped them to pleasantly and 
profitably while away otherwise tedious hours. 



398 WHAT I SAW, 



XXXI. 

At Home — A Resume of the Touk — Advice to Travelers — Ex- 
penses of a Trip Around the World — " Welcome Home." 

Bucyrus, Ohio, April 2, 1882. 

Our long journey is ended, and once more we find 
ourselves amid the familiar scenes of home, and sur- 
rounded by the thrice dear friends whose good wishes 
have kindly followed us in our travels. It has been sug- 
gested that a brief resume of our travels in foreign lands, 
coupled with suggestions drawn from our experiences, 
would not be wholly inappropriate as an appendix to 
what I have written. The task, were I to undertake it 
with a view of touching more than very lightly upon the 
salient features of the tour, would be of such proportions 
as would discourage me in advance of the essay. 

My first advice to the traveler who contemplates making 
the tour of the world, is to read carefully not only the 
standard histories of the nations he proposes to visit, but 
also the works written by those who have preceded him. 
A knowledge of the leading events in the past history of 
nations visited will add much to your enjoyment of their 
present. The traveler who visits Japan, Ceylon, or India, 
without having first acquainted himself with the leading 
events in their past — events which did so much to shape 
their subsequent national career, will see nothing and be 
interested in nothing except what falls within the scope of 
his immediate observation, and more than half the interest 
which he would otherwise feel will be lost. Much, also will 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 399 

be added to the appreciation of the tour by reading of the 
experiences of others. In them you will find many sug- 
gestions concerning the most attractive points within reach 
of the tourist, and the most available means of reaching 
them. You will also find varied entertainment, instruct- 
ive as well as pleasant, in comparing their impressions 
with your own. 

These are the first, but by no means the most import- 
ant, suggestions which I can make. Others may be 
grouped together without special reference to their value, 
though all will be found of prime utility, and enable you 
to avoid some of the many annoyances that constantly 
beset travelers in strange lands. Do not find fault with 
the religions or the religious ceremonies of the people 
with whom you are thrown into contact. You have no 
business with either. Besides, it is more than probable 
that your theories of religion, and your manner of paying 
devotions, seem just as absurd to them as theirs do to 
you. You will feel that the Buddhists of Japan and the 
Brahmins of India are heathens. They are just as firmly 
convinced that the Christians are unregenerate barbar- 
ians. Each has an inalienable right to his opinion, and 
should be allowed to enjoy it undisturbed. And here 
permit me to remai'k parenthetically, that if you visit 
Japan, Ceylon, or India expecting to find the natives un- 
sophisticated children of barbarism, you will discover 
your mistake after you have paid perhaps dearly for the 
information. If you desire to enjoy the best facilities for 
examining the temples and gods, you will find that an 
assumption of veneration and humility will aid you mate- 
rially. A traveler who is not willing to play the role of 
hypocrite as a means of leading to the satisfying of his 
curiosity, had better stay at home. By following my 



400 WHAT I SAW, 

advice in this regard, you will be enabled to penetrate 
many places that are usually hidden from travelers, and 
to see much that is ordinarily withheld from tourists. 

Remember, in all places, and under all circumstances, 
that you are a gentleman. Do not absorb the too com- 
mon idea that these barbarians can not distinguish be- 
tween gentility and boorishness. They can recognize with 
astonishing celerity the kind considerateness that distin- 
guishes the gentleman, and are not slow to respond. 
Always keep your temper. In China you will be called 
"foreign devils" and other pet names not down in your 
vocabulary of endearing terms, but it does not necessarily 
folloAV that you should be incited to play a leading role in 
a riot because of it. Take it easy, and content yourself, 
as I did, with anathematizing the beastly Mongolians at 
your leisure, where it may possibly be more effective. 
In Japan, do not become impatient with what appears like 
the impertinent inquisitiveness of the natives. The chances 
are that you are just as much of a curiosity to them as they 
are to you, and they have an equal right to gratify that 
curiosity. The Japanese you will find the pleasantcst, 
most accommodating, and most reliable of any people 
whom you will encounter in your tour. In Ceylon, the 
natives are kind and obliging, but, in business matters, as 
unreliable as a Connecticut deacon in a horse trade. They 
will swindle you badly, and laugh merrily over your 
"verdancy." The Hindoos you will also find courteous 
and obliging, but there is a suspicion of treachery of 
which the traveler in India finds it difficult to disabuse 
his mind. He is not likely to encounter this perfidy in 
his intercourse with the natives, but the dark pages of 
Indian history are ever fresh in his mind, and he ex- 
periences a constant constraint while in their presence. 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 401 

He should endeavor to avoid this as far as possible. 
Some of the most companionable and serviceable people 
we met in our travels were native Hindoos. It can not 
be denied, however, that, as a j)eople, their hatred of the 
English is deep-seated and intense. The lower classes look 
upon all English-speaking people as Englishmen, and for 
this reason Americans are often made to share their prej- 
udice; but the consideration shown by the educated upper 
classes to Americans is spontaneous and genuine. 

As I have frequently, in the preceding pages, taken 
occasion to remark, the English, as a class, are the most 
disagreeable people in the world — the only people who are 
disagreeable, apparently, from pure love of offensiveness, 
and by reason of their almost universal assumption of 
superiority to the rest of mankind. You will find En- 
glishmen and Chinamen everywhere. The peculiarities of 
the former you should school yourself to endure; the 
latter do not tolerate for a moment; shun them as you 
would the cholera or the yellow fever. Remember, I 
speak of the English as a people. You will find many 
notable and praiseworthy exceptions, whose social virtues 
become conspicuous by contrast. 

To any one contemplating the circumnavigatory tour, 
I would say further: Arrange your time of departure and 
sojourn in Japan so as to reach Singapore not earlier nor 
later than the middle of November. This will enable you 
to spend the Winter in the tropics, closing the Nile trip 
about the first of March. In this way you will avoid the 
intense and frequently fatal midsummer heat of Ceylon 
and India. 

A word regarding the expense. Under this head I 
enumerate only what I consider the absolutely necessary 
disbursements of the tour of ten months. Unfortunately, 
our trip was largely curtailed by circumstances beyond 

26 



402 WHAT I SAW, 

our control, but I include the expenses of that which -was 
needed to fully complete our travels : 

New York to California, $150 00 

California to Japan, 250 00 

Japan to China, 50 00 

China to Singapore, 100 00 

Singapore to Ceylon, 50 00 

Ceylon to Calcutta, 50 00 

Bombay to Aden, 100 00 

Aden to Suez, 100 00 

The Nile, First Cataract and return, 250 00 

Egypt to the Holy Land, Constantinople and Athens 

to Italy, 300 00 

Travels in India, thirty days, 200 00 

Sixty days in Europe, 200 00 

Londonderry to New York, 80 00 

Two hundred days' hotel hills, at S2 per day, . . . 400 00 

Curiosities, relics, etc., 200 00 

Total, S2,4S0 00 

Therefore I conclude that, excluding the liability to 
accident or delay, the tour of the world can be pleasantly, 
profitably, and safely made for twenty-five hundred dol- 
lars. In this statement I have taken no note of the num- 
berless temptations to spend money, which the traveler is 
liable to withstand but feebly. These matters each tourist 
can best arrange for himself. 

I do not feel like finally closing this narrative of 
travel without returning our sincere thanks to the legion 
of kind friends who bade us a hearty God-speed on our 
departure, and greeted our return with the most cordial 
congratulations. The form assumed by these greetings is, 
perhaps, best detailed by a brief excerpt from the eolumns 
of the Bucyrus Forum of March 31, 1882 : 

" WELCOME HOME." 

The arrival home from their tour around the world of Loring 
Converse and wife was made the occasion of one of the most pleas- 
ant entertainments in the social history of Bucyrus, one that was at 
once complimentary to the guests and reflected the sentiments of 
affection that have long held a place in the hearts of their legion of 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 403 

friends. The travelers arrived on the evening train from the East 
on Monday, and were met at the depot by a large concourse of 
neighbors and friends, who formed an informal procession, and, 
headed by the Bucyrus band, escorted them to their home, at the 
corner of Walnut and Warren Streets, which had been taken pos- 
session of by the lady friends of Mrs. Converse and prepared for 
their reception. From the door Mr. Converse made a few remarks, 
tbanking those present for the cordiality of their reception and bid- 
ding them good-night. 

The formal ceremonies were different, however, and invitations 
were issued for a reception and banquet at the Deal House on 
Thursday evening. The responses were numerous, and about one 
hundred persons seated themselves at ten o'clock to a sumptuous 
supper. The first half hour was devoted to gustatory exercises, 
mingled with commendations of the genial landlord and his worthy 
lady, Mrs. Elliott, whose facilities had proven so abundantly equal 
to the occasion. 

This part of the programme having been concluded, Major 
Williston, acting as Master of Ceremonies, introduced S. R. Harris, 
Esq., who delivered a brief but appropriate address of welcome to 
the guests of the evening. He spoke substantially as follows: 

Ladies and Gentlemen : — We are assembled this evening to accord 
to one of our fellow-citizens a reception from the toils, the pleas- 
ures, the excitements, and dangers of foreign travel ; to demonstrate 
that whilst he and the loved one who shared his experiences were 
in distant lands, whether in the mountains and valleys of Europe, 
among the ruined castles of the Middle Ages ; whether climbing 
Alpine heights or surveying the pastoral plains of Andalusia; 
whether luxuriating among the palms, tasting luscious tropical 
fruits, inhaling the aromatic breezes of Arabia, or imperiling their 
lives on stormy seas, friends at home were waiting with solicitude 
for the happy hour which has now arrived, when we meet them 
hale and hearty, and face to face. 

There is something so enticing in travel that thousands who 
have not the time or means to indulge themselves, take a deep 
interest in perusing the descriptive productions of those who do 
engage in it. The pleasure is still more heightened when we read 
the literary contributions of a personal friend and fellow-citizen. 

The history of the past teaches us that, while warriors have 
deluged the world with blood, and sought only the goal of their too 
often selfish ambitions, and savants, secluded in the depths of their 
studies, have delved in the hidden mysteries of nature and brought 
forth the long hidden secrets of science, it is the travelers who live 
longest in the memories and the gratitude of those who find their 
greatest and most profitable happiness in following the footsteps of 
those who have developed the resources of the world. 

In conclusion, I but speak the sentiments of very many when 



404 WHA T I SA W, AND HO W 1 SA W IT. 

I welcome Mr. Converse and his estimable wife to the home of their 
youth, to the society of life-long friends, to the festivities of the 
present evening; and, in the language of the immortal Rip Van 
Winkle, "may they live long and prosper." 

In response, Mr. Converse feelingly returned his thanks to the 
assemblage, and detailed some of his experiences in Japan and 
other lands, in a manner that gave renewed evidence of his keen 
observation and full appreciation of the many curious sights and 
strange experiences encountered. 

This concluded what might be termed the formal exercises, and 
in response to calls, brief remarks of a congratulatory and often hu- 
morous character were made by several gentlemen. Revs. Mather 
and Bauslin and Messrs. Finley, Clymer, and Eaton were particu- 
larly happy in their remarks, and throughout the evening the best 
of feeling j^revailed. 

In response to a further demand, Mr. Converse spoke briefly 
of his trip up the Red Sea, and his impressions of the surroundings 
of the historical spot where Moses led the Israelitish hosts across 
the sea, taking occasion at the same time to repeat what he had 
said in his letters regarding the disgust from which the travelers 
suffered, through disappointment of being unable to reach Egypt 
and the Holy Land. 

Mrs. Converse, from the fullness of a grateful heart, returned 
thanks to the company, declaring that of all her happy hours this 
was indeed the happiest. She was greeted by the assembly with 
round after round of continued applause. 

The hands on the clock had passed the noon of night when 
the company arose from the table, and sought their homes. 



©UBA AND CQSXIGO. 



\ 



I. 



Through the South to Cuba — Effects of the "War upon the 
Southern Country and its People — In Florida — Voyage upon 
the St. John's River— Visit to a Negro Church — Distin- 
guished Fellow Passengers — Grant's Reception at Havana. 

Havana, Cuba, January, 1880. 

A flying trip through the Southern States, from Cincinnati to 
Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Macon, etc., while not devoid of 
interest to the traveler, presents few features that have not become 
familiar to the most casual reader. The late war, its causes, progress 
and results, still remains the great theme of conversation. The gen- 
eral feeling is one of resignation, a willingness to accept the inevit- 
able with the best grace possible, and to exert every effort in the 
attempt to rebuild the prosperity that was sacrificed in the madness 
of attempted revolution. This class compose much the larger portion 
of the Southern people, the reasoning element, and, I find, numbers 
among its members ninety-nine out of every hundred who fought 
for the cause of the Confederacy. An 'important factor in this re- 
habilitation, and one perhaps more influential than all others com- 
bined, is the immigration of Northern energy, skill, and capital. At 
every point in our travels, from Louisville to Key West, evidences 
of the advantages accruing were apparent. Nashville is almost a 
Northern city; Chattanooga wholly so. Atlanta has been largely 
rebuilt with Northern capital, and her phenomenal prosperity is 
creditable largely to Northern energy and business capacity. In the 
iron and coal regions of Northern Alabama, an interest has been 
developed which promises to transform the once barren and unpro- 
ductive wastes into a vast hive of busy and thriving trade. New 
cities and towns have sprung up, and the natives find more profit 
if less pleasure in driving the busy wheels of trade than superin- 
tending the details of a neglected plantation, cultivated by negroes. 
The day is not far distant when the Southern people will look upon 
the war as a blessing. Slavery could never have been abolished 
except by the sword, but abolition was necessary to the develop- 
ment and progress of the Southern States. 

407 



408 WHAT 1 SAW, 

Freedom to the slave seems to have benefited every one but tbe 
slave himself. Previous to the war I traveled much through the 
South, and then formed the opinion which I have never found 
reason to revise, that slavery was a curse to every one but the slave. 
"When the traveler through the Southern States to-day compares the 
dirty, lazy, ragged, and thriftless myriads of negroes which he finds 
crowding the streets of the cities and towns, where they exert them- 
selves mainly in supporting the sunny side of a brick wall, his mind 
involuntarily reverts to "those good old days" when the negroes to 
be met, though slaves, were sleek, hearty, well-fed, and comfortably 
dressed, without a care, with every reasonable want provided for, 
and oppressed only by the withholding of that too often over- 
estimated and more frequently abused blessing, personal freedom. 
There are, of course, exceptions to the wretchedness and squalor 
that prevails among the negroes of the South, just as there are ex- 
ceptions to all recognized rules; but I venture the assertion, based 
upon observation, that there are not ten thousand negroes in the 
South to whom freedom has proven a blessing. 

Our route took us to Savannah, and thence, by devious mean- 
derings through Florida, to Cedar Keys, and thence to Key West, 
from whence the distance to Havana is but a few hours by steamer. 
Savannah is a beautiful city, with elegant wide and well shaded 
streets, and altogether having an appearance of solid wealth and lux- 
ury, but to a great extent devoid of the bustling activity indicative 
of commercial progressiveness. The citizens are evidently in the 
enjoyment of a degree of comfort from which they can not be drawn 
by roseate pictures of a possible future. Savannah suffered but 
little from the Avar; that is, it escaped the disastrous consequences 
that pressed so heavily upon its neighbors, Charleston and Atlanta. 

Our first Sunday away from home was spent in Savannah, and 
a more peaceful, quiet observance of the day could not be found 
even in New England. The citizens seem to be largely church-going 
people, and the streets are as quiet as those of a country village. 

We left by coast steamer for Fernandina, Florida, after a so- 
journ in Savannah of three days. The coast south is composed of 
a myriad of islands, large and small, and through these the steamer 
picked its devious way for a distance of perhaps two hundred miles. 
Although it was January, we realized that we were approaching the 
tropics, the heat being at times intense, and the temperature never 
low enough, even during the nights, to make more than a light coat 
necessary for comfort. This short excursion from Savannah to Fer- 
nandina carried us through a veritable paradise for hunters, the air 
sometimes being absolutely darkened by the flight of countless thou- 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 409 

sands of wild duck and other winged game. Under such circum- 
stances, however, I expect hunting loses its zest. To be attractive 
sport, the hunting and the finding of game must not run so nearly 
upon the same plane. There can not he much sport in bagging 
fowl when no skill is required, and all the hunter has to do is to 
raise his gun and fire, assured that by no possible accident can he 
fail to secure from one to half a dozen birds. This weather, the 
very perfection of pleasantness to us, is "the dead of Winter." It 
is not often that frost visits this section, and should one appear, it 
is placed upon the meteorological record of the "oldest inhabitant" 
as a "red-letter" day. As for snow, such a thing is never dreamed 
of except in the form of news from other sections. There are thou- 
sands of people in Southern Georgia and Florida who never saw 
snow, and, were it not for the specimens brought from the North 
and sold for from five to eight cents per pound, would have no idea 
of the appearance of ice. 

On the second day after leaving Savannah, we arrived at Fer- 
nandina, remaining, however, but a day, when we started to view 
the sights in a trip of three hundred miles up the St. John's River. 
Jacksonville, the metropolis of the State, is an elegant little city, 
with wide and tastefully shaded streets, and the many other evi- 
dences of care and taste upon the part of the citizens, which com- 
bined give to a town an air of attractiveness that can not be over- 
looked. This is the midst of the garden of the South, where the 
orange and other tropical fruits grow in luscious profusion. 

In passing up the river, we saw many specimens of amphibious 
creatures, indigenous to the semi-tropics. The alligators were not 
either so plentiful or so lively as I expected to see them. The 
natives told us they were chilled by the cold water. Some we 
saw, however, stretched upon the sandy banks, apparently enjoying 
the rays of the sun as it only can be enjoyed by an alligator and a 
nigger. Several amateur sportsmen on board the boat amused them- 
selves shooting at the languid saurians, but the effect was not in 
many instances noticeable. 

For most of the distance up to Palatka, each side of the river is 
lined with orange groves, and the revenue from the fruit must be 
immense. Most of these orchards are owned by Northern capital- 
ists, who spend the Winters here; but they are cared for mostly by 
natives, often trusty colored persons, but more frequently by white 
people. We visited several, as well as a number of banana or- 
chards. The banana tree grows about twenty feet high, and the 
fruit ripens every month. 

Fortunately for visitors to Florida, the diet is usually confined 



410 WHAT I SAW, 

to vegetables and fruits. These are abundant and of the best quality. 
Meats, unless brought from the North, are of the very poorest kind, 
such as would test the ability of the strongest digestive organs. 
The native cattle are the poorest of poor " scrubs," weighing not 
more than four or five hundred pounds, and so devoid of flesh that 
they would be shunned by a coyote. 

Our route took us down the river from Palatka to Jacksonville 
again, where we remained one day, and took the train for Cedar 
Keys, distant one hundred and eighty-six miles to the westward. 
The country en route is very sparsely settled. We could not divine 
any attraction in the appearance of the land. For the most part it 
is low, marshy, and very poor. "The poor white trash" of the 
South, have, however, a faculty for living and securing an amount 
of comfort where other people would starve. Such tenacity to an 
utterly useless and wholly joyless life I have never seen equaled. 
These sallow-faced and yellow-haired "squatters" are, like "razor- 
backed" hogs, indigenous to the South, and, like poor people every- 
where, sedulously obey the divine injunction, "multiply and re- 
plenish the earth." Babies are the principal production, and the 
native "cracker's" pride can readily be measured by the size of Ms 
half-naked family. 

Cedar Keys we found a quiet little town on the gulf shore. 
Our hotel was built of boards placed perpendicularly, and white- 
washed inside and out, the interstices in the walls warranted to ex- 
clude any animal larger than a rat. As the weather was very warm, 
we appreciated the ventilation, but wept tears of rage when at- 
tacked by the mosquitoes, and found ourselves without means of 
defense. "While waiting at Cedar Keys for the vessel which was to 
convey us to Cuba, Sunday intervened, and we embraced the oppor- 
tunity for visiting a colored church. The occasion was one which 
will long be remembered. The building was constructed of rough 
boards, innocent of paint, whitewash, or other worldly embellish- 
ment. As we entered the services were about to commence, and 
were evidently interrupted by our unexpected arrival. We were 
politely shown to an eligible seat near the pulpit, which was lo- 
cated in a recess about six by four feet in size, much as the portion 
of the edifice set apart for the minister is in other and more preten- 
tious churches. The preacher was a fair specimen, in appearance, 
of what they call in the Southern States, a "field hand," a great, 
burly, broad-shouldered fellow, with an arm like a trip-hammer, 
and a voice that would have shamed into quiescence the traditional 
"Bull of Bashan." We attended with the expectation of being en- 
tertained rather than edified, and we were not disappointed. What 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 411 

the preacher lacked in forensic skill and oratorical polish, was 
abundantly compensated for by an earnestness and evident sin- 
cerity. He began the services by "lining out" that good old hymn, 

" Am I a soldier of the cross, 
A follower of the Lamb?" 

And such singing it has seldom been my fortune to hear! As the 
full, round notes swelled up until the volume rilled the rustic build- 
ing, and went forth in cadences of bewitching harmony, I wondered 
if the words of praise met not with as welcome a reception at the 
throne of the Father as if they came from a choir of hired chor- 
isters, and mingled their classic completeness with the deep-voiced 
tones of a monster organ. 

I do not now remember the text, but the sermon, the lessons 
drawn by the rustic preacher, although clothed in homely language, 
touched the hearts of the hearers and led them, let us hope, many 
steps forward in the "straight and narrow path" that leads to 
eternal life, as surely from the primitive cabin in the pine groves of 
Florida, as from the cushioned and carpeted sanctuary where the 
rays of the sun are toned by passage through stained-glass windows, 
and the voices of the worshipers are attuned in accord with the 
formulas of prescribed modes of worhip. 

Nevertheless, there were some features of the service so unusual 
as to be amusing. When the minister had concluded his exhorta- 
tion, he called upon "Brudder Ben" to pray. The prayer was of 
peculiar earnestness, not clothed in the finest language, nor devoid 
of the idioms of the plantation negro, whose metaphors are badly 
mingled, and whose ideas of the relations existing between human- 
ity and their God are not clearly defined. At its conclusion, he 
asked that "Brudder Sam" should "pass de hat." Each of us con- 
tributed his mite, but some of the individual contributions must 
have been the smallest the currency would permit, as the good 
brother announced that the aggregate was but one dollar. 

The marshes and islands in the neighborhood of Cedar Keys 
are a veritable paradise for sportsmen. During our brief sojourn I 
chartered a skiff for a brief tour through the islands, having em- 
ployed as sailing-master a native who claimed to know every nook 
and sand-bar on the coast. Like most other guides, he developed 
into a tremendous liar, and for hours was kept mainly busy wading 
out and pushing our craft off the bars and other places where he 
had run us aground. But we enjoyed the excursion immensely, 
and, after a reasonably thorough exploration, returned to our hotel 
completely rejuvenated, and with appetites that even craved a 



412 WHAT I SAW, 

piece of Florida beefsteak, which is the best compliment I can pay 
to the excursion. 

Previous to closing this brief account of our experiences in 
Florida, I can not neglect to pay a compliment to her people, and 
to the people of the whole South as well, for their uniform kind- 
ness and courteous hospital it}'. Usually the traveler expects no 
consideration but what is paid for. He has no right to expect 
more, and in most countries is grievously disappointed if he does. 
In the South, however, it is different. The people look upon you 
as their welcome guest, whom it is a privilege to honor, and their 
attentions are at times almost burdensome. Their views upon 
social and political questions are never thrust upon the visitor, but, 
should he insist upon an expression, he will find a choice lot of 
opinions, which the people are willing to express, and abundantly 
able to maintain. 

We left Cedar Keys, January 20th, and, with a smooth sea, 
breezes as balmy as June in the North, and companionship all that 
could be desired, arrived at Key West at eight o'clock on the even- 
ing of the following day. There is, perhaps, no place upon earth 
that requires less description from the pen of a traveler than Key 
West. Imagine a long, narrow strip of land, devoid almost of vege- 
tation, and a straggling, hap-hazard village, looking as though it had 
been planted by a hurricane, peopled by refugees from Cuba and 
negroes, the former of whom are devoted wholly to the manufac- 
ture of cigars, and the latter to keeping upon the dark side of the 
sun's shadow, as in consonance with the prejudices of the people, 
it shifts lazily from West to East. That 's Key West, or at least 
my impression of it. 

From Key West to Havana we were honored with the company 
of ex-President Grant and party, who, like ourselves, were entering 
upon a tour of Cuba and Mexico. We were indebted to the Ameri- 
can consul at Cardenas for an introduction to General Sheridan, and 
he in turn made us acquainted with the ex-President and wife. I 
suppose we should have been duly impressed ; but speaking for my- 
self, I must confess that, if any particular impression was made, I 
have forgotten it. Mrs. Converse's views are never such as would 
fit her for a courtier. Mr. Grant seemed to be surprised that I did 
not seek an office, particularly as I hailed from Ohio, and attempted 
a sickly repetition of that stale witticism about "Ohio men" that I 
doubt not he has repeated in every quarter of the globe. 

Previous to this, during the ex-President's tour of the world, I 
have read much of his travels, and been thrilled with the glowing 
accounts given in the newspapers of the ovations he received. I can 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 413 

not help but wonder if they were all like the one given him in 
Havana. As we aj:>proached this port, we expected to hear the can- 
nons "peal forth their glad welcome," the bells ringing, see the flags 
flying, and in the midst of all, the " loud acclaims" of the multitudes 
as they shouted a " hearty welcome to the hero of the American 
war." Such extravagant ideas of what was due were certainly held 
by the ex-President's party ; for, as we approached Moro Castle, the 
ancient fortification that stands at the entrance to the harbor as grim 
and silent as an old Castilian sentinel, Mrs. Grant, standing just at 
my elbow, exclaimed to a friend : " Now, look for the cannons to 
belch forth their loud thunder !" As a matter of fact, which I much 
regret to record, there was not a solitary " belch." Every thing was 
as silent as the grave, with no indications, of a reception or other 
demonstration of any kind, if I may except a slightly increased 
crowd at the landing as the small boat containing Grant approached. 
These were evidently attracted entirely by curiosity. They looked at 
him as coolly and calmly as a child would a strange picture, without 
a shadow of enthusiasm in their countenances. 

Moro Castle, the principal fortification in Spanish America, and 
perhaps one of the oldest, stands at the narrow entrance to the har- 
bor, and, in connection with a strong battery opposite, fully com- 
mands the passage. The Castle occupies a position upon an abrupt 
promontory, perhaps a hundred feet high, and has a strength of wall 
and armament that were perhaps almost impregnable fifty years ago ; 
but, with the improvement in naval engines of war since, the fort 
could readily be knocked into a chaotic mass in less than a week. 
It is, however, the pride of all loyal Cubans, who seem to fear that, 
were it not for the " Castle" they would be overrun by the nations 
of the earth. The harbor spreads out within the fortifications, and 
is said by navigators to be one of the safest and most complete in 
the world. 

The view had of the harbor and the city from the deck as our 
vessel steamed" slowly to her anchorage, was one of beauty and in- 
tense interest to a stranger. The harbor was filled with vessels from 
most parts of the world, among which, as elsewhere, the American 
flag was conspicuous by its almost entire absence. On the one hand 
lay the city, covering a low-lying plain, and on the other the green 
hills, dotted over with the villas of the wealthy and ease-loving na- 
tives, rose gradually from the verge of the water. The eye was glad- 
dened by the scene, and our minds received a pleasant impression, 
from this, our first view of " the ever faithful isle." 



414 WHAT 1 SAW, 



II. 



The Cubans and the Spaniards — Havana and its People — The 
Style of Architecture — The Parks — A Visit to the Cathe- 
dral — The Cuban Hotels. 

Havana, January 23, 1880. 

WnAT New York is to Amorica, or Paris to France, Havana is 
to Cuba. It is the social as well as the commercial center of the 
island. Here is located the government, delegated by Spain to 
watch and repress the spirit of independent nationality that has 
frequently during the past quarter of a century bubbled to the 
surface, and given the "mother country" much trouble. It may 
be said that Havana is loyal, but it is not the loyalty of love; 
rather the faithfulness of listless indolence, willing rather to submit 
quietly to the pressure of bonds than to indulge in the physical and 
mental exertion necessary to inaugurate a revolution. This I 
fancy to be largely the feeling of the native Cubans; but the trav- 
eler sees comparatively few Cubans of unmixed blood in Havana. 
So close are the relations between the natives and the full-blooded 
Spaniards, that they have become commingled, and form a race 
distinct in its national feelings and social characteristics. These are 
firmly loyal to Spain, and will doubtless so remain until such time, 
certain to arrive, when Cuba shall become independent The 
native Cubans, or Creoles, are all, or nearly all, of Spanish descent, 
but the lines of nationality are here even more clearly drawn than 
they are in the States between the natives and foreign born. 

The city of Havana was formerly surrounded by a wall and 
ditch, which has within the past few years been removed. The 
streets, although narrow, are well macadamized, and cross each 
other at right angles. There are no sidewalks, such as are consid- 
ered indispensable with us. In some places there is a narrow and 
irregular line of flagstones, which are level with the carriage ways, 
and are utilized equally by pedestrians and vehicles. As a matter 
of fact, but few persons walk in Havana, and sidewalks would be of 
comparatively little use. Every body rides, the vehicle most used 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 415 

being that distinctively Cuban carriage, the volante. It is seldom a 
woman of respectability so discredits herself as to appear on foot in 
the street, even among the lowliest classes. 

The beauty of the Cuban ladies is of world-wide notoriety, but 
to my eye their loveliness is too much of the spirituelle variety. 
They are so delicate appearing, in both form and feature, as to sug- 
gest the idea of ornament rather than use. That their features are 
handsome can not be gainsaid, but a visitor misses that buxom 
voluptuousness and evident strength, of both mind and body, that 
distinguishes most American ladies. This delicacy and appearance 
of languor and listlessness is, I have no doubt, largely due to the 
indolent lives they lead, that of -mere human automatons, devoid of 
care, and equally devoid of ambition. Custom, that inexorable 
social law, deprives them of out-door exercise, and I have been led, 
partly by stories often told me, and largely by observation, to the 
conclusion that their mental systems find their greatest enjoyment 
in feeble gossip and intrigues. They are in person rather below the 
height of the sex in America. The hair is always black and abun- 
dant; the complexion a light olive, but wholly lacking the slightest 
touch of healthful rosiness in the cheek; the eyes match the hair in 
color, and are large and very expressive, with an irresistible expres- 
sion, that seems to draw the observer closer. There is but one 
physical exercise for which the Cuban ladies have a fondness, and 
that is dancing. For this, and other movements combining grace 
and beauty, they are peculiarly fitted by nature. Their feet are 
small, their forms lithe and willowy, and certainly no more exqui- 
sitely beautiful sight can be seen anywhere than a floor filled with 
these fairy-like creatures, clad in the whitest of muslins and laces, 
with delicate white-slippered feet, whirling through the mazes of a 
voluptuous waltz. I confess it made my age-cooled blood warm 
again, and caused me to indulge in the vain wish that I were young 
once more. During the day these lovely creatures divide their time 
about equally between light sewing, such as embroidery, and the 
siesta, or, as we practical Americans speak of it, the " afternoon 
nap." It is possible that most of them possess the rudiments of an 
education, but if they indulge in reading of any kind it is of the 
lightest, and of a character not calculated to add to their universally 
limited stock of information. In the evening, when the air has been 
to some extent cooled by the sea breezes, they call their volantes, 
and in vast numbers crowd the drives in and about the city, coquet- 
ting with the gentlemen in a manner so flagrant and open as to 
shame even an American girl. After the drive and an hour or two 
spent at the open air concert in the Plaza de Armas, comes the 



416 WHAT I SAW, 

dance, and daylight often finds them still engaged in the revel of 
dissipation. This is the almost every day (and night) life of a Cuban 
Creole belle, and they all seem to be belles. 

Perhaps, the curiosity of my readers may have been aroused by 
the use of the term volanie. It is a vehicle of peculiar but by no 
means elaborate construction, which I believe is known nowhere 
outside of Cuba. It has two wheels of light build, but great dia- 
meter, only one seat, placed well forward, and resting as much upon 
the shafts as on the wheels. The shafts are long, and are occupied 

by but one horse, upon which the driver rides. Do not fancy that 
tiny are very pleasant to ride in. As witli our American sulky, or 
gig, the motion of the animal is too readily transferred to the occu- 
pants of the seat, and they find themselves participating in the 
spasmodic action of the horse. 

The prevailing style of architecture in Havana is heavy and 
somber, of little beauty, and gives to the buildings an appearance 
of age and solidity. The dwellings are of square, unornamental con- 
struction, standing out to the street, and almost universally built 
around an extensive court in the center. Upon this court, often 
embellished with rare plants and cooling fountains, the doors anil 
windows of the bouses open. This court-yard is readied from the 
street by a narrow passage-way, and it is frequently the case that 
this is the only means the dwelling has of communicating with the 
street. The lower story never forms a part of the dwelling proper, 
but is usually devoted to a store-room or kitchen, and not infre- 
quently to the purposes of a stable. From the court-yard ascends a- 
wide stair-case to the corridor above, upon which all the rooms Open. 
The dwelling rooms are tastefully and sometimes elaborately orna- 
mented with fresco and stucco. The floor is always of marble, slate, 
or tile. Carpets are almost unknown, as the great heat of the cli- 
mate renders them uncomfortable. This form of building the dwell- 
ings which 1 have described is a relic of the feudal days, when 
every man's house was literally his castle, which he was often called 
upon to defend. In addition to the building being built around an 
inner court, every accessible window is heavily barred and every 
outside door made bullet-proof. Glass windows are rare, even in 
the cities. The windows, where they open upon the street, project, 
and are, as 1 have said, heavily barred with iron. The passer-by OD 
the narrow street can not, even if he desired, avoid seeing much of 
the internal economy of the dwelling. Sometimes a curtain inter- 
venes, but usually the air is allowed free circulation. In Cuba the 
ideas of the beneficial effects of pure air are much more advanced 
than among the Americans. On the inside of the dwellings, there 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 417 

are few doors, curtains alone shutting oft communications between 
rooms. At night these are all drawn, and air permitted to circulate 
freely through all parts of the house. In the cities the roofs of the 
houses are flat, and this provides a space that during the day is 
utilized by the family laundress, but in the evening becomes the 
point of family reunion, where the after-dinner cigar is enjoyed, in 
connection with the cooling breezes blowing from the Gulf. 

While Havana can not be called a handsome city in the sense 
that some American cities are handsome, yet it has features of suf- 
ficient attractiveness to draw the pleased attention of the visitor. 
There are numerous well-arranged squares, shaded by palm and 
orange trees, surrounded by luxuriant hedges. The largest and 
finest of these parks is that upon which fronts the Captain-Gen- 
eral's palace, the Plaza de Armas. There is an air of neatness and 
care about this square that seems strange and incongruous in Cuba. 
It is surrounded by an ornamental iron railing; is laid out in beauti- 
ful walks, bordered with flowers, and shaded with luxuriant tropical 
trees. In the center is a large fountain, surmounted by a marble 
statue of Ferdinand, the Spanish king, under whose auspices Co- 
lumbus sailed to discover America. This Plaza is the resort of all 
classes, who come to enjoy the cooling breezes of the evening, 
mingle in social conversation and amusements, and listen to the 
sweet music of the military band attached to the palace. I know 
of nowhere on earth that an evening can be so pleasantly if per- 
haps not profitably spent. If the visitor is tired out with the sight- 
seeing of the day, here he can find rest and rejuvenation ; if he 
desires to study the capricious and volatile characteristics of the 
Cubans, here they are to be seen in all their phases. 

Just outside the former walls is another and much larger park, 
known as the Tacon Paseo, which is even more of a popular resort 
than the Plaza. It is perhaps a mile in length and half as wide, 
beautifully laid out in wide walks and drives, and embellished with 
an unnumbered variety of tropical trees, shrubs, and flowers. Here 
is located the principal theater of the city, differing somewhat in 
inner construction from those in America, but retaining the general 
formation that civilization borrowed from the ancient Greeks and 
Romans. There are five tiers of boxes for the ladies, which are 
covered in front with lattice-work, giving the poor creatures the ap- 
pearance of inbarred prisoners. 

We visited the Calle de Ignacio Church, better known as the 
Cathedral of Havana. It is not remarkable in appearance, and its 
great age and associations alone preserve it from comparative ob- 
scurity. The walls of stone are defaced and moss-grown, and it 

27 



418 WHAT 1 SAW, 

seems to the observer a fitting reflex of Spanish rule in America — 
grand, majestic, and apparently substantial in its inception, it lias 
felt and suffered from the attrition of centuries of decay, until to- 
day it looks to the traveler more like a gigantic ruin than the seat 
of a Spanish cardinalate. Upon entering, however, this evidence of 
decay is not so apparent. Magnificent paintings adorn the walls, 
and the ceiling, including the nut massive dome, are embellished 
with paintings in fresco. 

Before closing this chapter, I can not forbear to speak of the 
Cuban betels, and particularly the manner of cooking. The luscious 
fruits of the tropics, which grow on this island in endless variety 
and pro fusion, form a large part of the diet of every one. I have 
been told that they can be eaten by all with impunity, but this my 
own experience leads me to doubt. Already I have found occasion 
to appeal to my medicine chest ; but it may be the effects of a 
change of climate and water, rather than the fruit. At the hotel 
where we are stopping there is but one interpreter, and he remains 
in the business department of the establishment. Our ignorance of 
the Spanish language is as dense as if we had never heard a word 
of it spoken, and, as a consequence, our experience in the dining- 
room is but a succession of discouraging experiments. We endeavor 
to obey the injunction of the apostle — to eat what is set before us, 
and say nothing about it (or words to that effect), but with many 
things it is a dismal failure. The best we can do is to taste each 
dish in succession, until we find one that is not wholly unpalatable, 
and satisfy our appetites upon that. The mode of cooking is not 
wholly unlike that of the French, though garlic (which might be 
called a national Spanish vegetable) gives to every thing a pre- 
dominating flavor. I sometimes think I would like to try an ex- 
periment with a Spaniard. I would take him and deprive his 
stomach for a month of that highly odorous vegetable, and see if 
he would n't die. All dishes — fowl, fish, meat, vegetables, and 
soup^are so disguised with this abominable stuff that the guest is 
unable to determine what were the original constituent parts of the 
dish. I thought that perhaps I could secure something palatable 
by calling for oysters. Patiently I examined my pocket compen- 
dium of Spanish phrases, and found the word. The polite but de- 
generate Castilian wdio served us brought in some pickled oysters, 
that looked to our eyes like nothing so much as fricasseed bumble- 
bees. I tasted them, and may I be blessed if, although they bore a 
Baltimore brand, they too did not. have garlic in 'em. Our only re- 
source, our only protection against starvation or an undeviating 
fruit diet, is to learn to like garlic. 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 419 



III. 



Mercantile Havana— The Market-men — Cuban Marriages— Tem- 
perance in Liquor — The Consumption of Tobacco— The Dairy- 
men—The National Amusements— Bull and Cock Fighting — 
A Visit to the Cemetery — The Lottery — Cuban Nobility. 

Havana, January 25, 1880. 

The principal retail street of Havana, where are located all the 
fashionable stores, is known as the Calle de Mercaderes, and the 
display of fine goods, in such lines as dry goods, notions, jewelry, 
glassware, etc., are scarcely inferior to that seen in Broadway or 
Chestnut Street. A peculiarity of the mercantile business is that 
the merchant does not place his name upon the sign, but each 
establishment is designated by a chosen title, much as are the hotels 
and saloons in the States. Here before us is the " Star;" further on 
the "America," and at the corner of the next square, one called 
" Virtue." The last name is as much of a novelty in Havana as it 
could be, perhaps, in any civilized city on earth. The merchants 
of Havana possess all the business peculiarities that with us are 
credited to the Israelites. On entering a store and inquiring the 
price of even the most ordinary article of merchandise, the figures 
given will surprise the purchaser, and tend to impress him unfa- 
vorably with the economy of living upon the island. Persistency in 
the determination not to allow himself to be swindled will, how- 
ever, enable him to close a bargain at reasonable figures, though 
the chances are at least even that the most expert buyer will find 
he has been swindled, even after he has procured the desired 
article for one-third what it was first offered. Merchandise in 
Havana is worth about the same as in New York, though perhaps 
in some articles there is a slight advance upon American prices. 

A feature of shopping in Havana is noteworthy. The ladies of 
Cuba are as devoted to this accomplishment as their American sis- 
ters, and apparently derive as much comfort from it. They drive 
up to the door of the store in their volantes, and the goods are 
brought out to them for their inspection. A native Cuban lady 



420 WHAT I SAW, 

will not alight from her carriage and enter a store any more than 
she would permit herself to be seen walking upon the street. The 
picture presented upon the street I have named, during the closing 
hours of the day, when the ladies are out in full force doing their 
shopping, is novel. Before each store of prominence will be seen a 
number of volantes, occupied usually by two bright-eyed Cuban 
beauties, while a bevy of shop-boys are busy carrying out goods for 
their inspection. One point in favor of the Cuban ladies can be 
noted. They usually have formed a reasonably definite idea of 
what they want before calling for it, and purchases are readily 
made. I have not, during our stay in Havana, witnessed the coun- 
terpart of that scene so common in all American stores, where a lady 
customer turns half the stock upside-down before concluding to pur- 
chase a spool of thread. 

The market-men of Havana appear to be a distinct class, and 
possess features that are deserving a passing notice. They are 
usually the owners of a few acres of land in the suburbs, or within 
a few miles of the city, which they cultivate with as much assiduity 
and thoroughness as a natural predisposition to indolence will per- 
mit. Their productions, usually vegetables and poultry, are some- 
times brought to the city in vehicles, but. the more common mode 
of transportation is the much-abused donkey. If the quantity is 
great, more than one donkey is called to service. The proprietor is 
mounted upon one, almost buried beneath a mass of vegetables and 
fowls. To the tail of this leader is attached the halter of the sec- 
ond; to its caudal appendage is hitched the third, and so on until 
the cavalcade is complete. The view of such a cortege, winding its 
way with solemn dignity through the narrow streets of Havana, is 
one that appeals strongly to the observer's sense of the ludicrous. 
In addition to the family supplies thus transported, the animals are 
frequently loaded with cornstalks, hay, or straw, and the innumer- 
able variety of articles that find a demand in the markets of a large 
city. In Havana the apostolic aphorism, "sufficient unto the day 
is the evil thereof," finds its most practical illustration. Such 
providence as distinguishes an American family and leads them to 
purchasing supplies in large quantities, sufficient to supply the 
needs for days or weeks, is unknown among the Havanese. The 
articles needed are purchased every day. Not only is this the case 
with the table supplies, but it includes the needed fuel and the 
hay, grain, etc., for the consumption of domestic animals. The 
marketing is universally intrusted to a negro man or woman, usu- 
ally a slave, and they purchase in such quantity as may be required 
for the day, and exercise their own judgment in the matter of 



AND HOW I SA W IT. 421 

variety. Of household economy, the Cuban ladies know absolutely 
nothing, and their busbands and fatbers less, if possible. Every 
thing is intrusted to a steward or stewardess, always a negro, and 
in most instances a favorite slave. Tbere is one feature that com- 
mends the retail trade in Cuba. All purchases, in every line, are 
made for cash. Retail dealers keep no books, except a cash book 
and an expense account. 

These market-men, or monteros, as they are called, form an im- 
portant and interesting part of the Cuban population. In this lat- 
itude the human fruit ripens early, and marriages among this agri- 
cultural class, are solemnized at a very early age, the boys entering 
the state of duality when from sixteen to twenty years of age, and 
the years of the bride often do not exceed thirteen. They enter into 
the business of married life with commendable alacrity, and it is no 
unusual sight to encounter a girl who is a mother at fourteen. 
They almost universally raise large families. As the earliest ma- 
tured fruit soonest decays, so these young mothers at the age of 
thirty have lost all their freshness and bloom, and in most cases 
degenerated into decrepitude, the result of premature decay. An 
old woman, that is, one old in years, is almost unknown in Cuba. 
They are grandmothers at thirty, and look upon the third genera- 
tion of their descendants before they have passed the half century 
of their own lives, if they be so fortunate as to live that long. The 
traveler in tropical countries misses those hale and hearty matrons 
of sixty or seventy years that give a charm to the home circle in 
more northern latitudes. 

Other writers have commended the Cubans for their habits of 
temperance, and I desire to add my testimony. There is not, per- 
haps, a people in the world who, as a people, indulge so sparingly 
in intoxicating liquors. Even the lower and middle classes, while, 
perhaps, willing to join a stranger in a social glass, will drink 
very sparingly, and be loath to repeat it before the expiration of 
several hours. Wine is found frequently upon the tables of the 
wealthy, but it is partaken of only in limited quantities, fresh, ripe 
fruit taking the place of the beverage to a great extent. Temper- 
ance in the use of liquors is not, however, accompanied by temper- 
ance in all things. The Cubans, perhaps, to a greater extent than 
any other people in the world, are addicted to the use of tobacco, 
and the consumption of this narcotic, in the form of cigars and 
cigarettes, is enormous. Tobacco chewing is almost unknown, but 
every man, woman, and child on the island seems to smoke. It is 
no unusual sight to see a lady, while enjoying the cooling gulf 
breezes on the veranda, or in the parlor, drawing the inspiration of 



422 WHAT I SAW, 

comfort from a cigarette, with her shapely head surrounded hy a 
halo of deliciously perfumed smoke. I understand this practice of 
open and public smoking by the ladies has been discouraged by the 
later decrees of Creole society; but still the sight I have mentioned 
is not so unusual as to be novel in the city of Havana. I have seen 
little children, scarcely past the age of eight years, with cigars in 
their mouths, and in the full enjoyment of the luxury of a smoke. 
As to the men, they smoke all the time. In business houses, at the 
theaters, in their homes, they are hardly ever seen without a cigar. 
I have seen, in a cafe, a Cuban gentleman leisurely eating his din- 
ner, while in his right hand, or lying beside his plate, was the inev- 
itable cigar ; which, at intervals of every few bites, he would place 
to his lips and draw a mouthful of smoke, and expel it through his 
nostrils. This enormous consumption of cigars has led to a home 
demand that forms the foundation of the immense manufacture in 
Cuba, a trade that exceeds almost every other industry upon the 
island combined, unless it be that of the manufacture of sugar. 
Pipes are not, as far so my observation extends, used, except by the 
slaves. These creatures, men and women alike, usually smoke a 
heavy clay pipe, charged with the strongest tobacco. The aroma is 
not as delicate and as soothing to the olfactory nerves as the odor 
of new-mown hay. In fact, they "smell to heaven," and discount 
the most odorous "dhudeen" that ever gave peace to the nerves 
of a son of the Emerald Isle: 

The course adopted by the Cuban dairy-man in supplying his 
city patrons with their daily modicum of milk, is one of the 
strange sights to be seen in the streets of Havana. The cows are 
brought to the city and driven from door to door. The milkman, 
at each stopping place, deliberately seats himself upon his stool 
and milks the quantity demanded by the consumer, delivers it, and 
drives the animal on to the door of the next customer. There are 
advantages in this mode which the consumers probably do not 
overlook. When they see their daily supply of the lacteal fluid 
drawn from the udder of the kine, they feel an assurance of its 
purity that is not vouchsafed by the gayly painted wagons, filled 
with shining cans, that serve the needs of town and city con- 
sumers in the States. The Cuban plan insures not only purity but 
freshness, and is to be commended in every way. The supply of 
milk in this city is drawn about equally from goats and cows. 
The former are driven to the doors of customers, the same as 
the latter. 

There are two amusements in Cuba, which might almost be de- 
nominated national, although their practive in America would bring 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 423 

down upon the participators the vengeance of the outraged law, re- 
enforced by the vigorous anathemas of the ultra good people, who 
are generously mindful of other people's eternal welfare. I refer to 
cock-fighting and bull-fighting. Sunday is the day usually devoted 
to the latter, while any day and any hour is considered appropriate 
for indulgence in the former. The cock-pits are more numerous 
than churches, and, I have reason to believe, much better patron- 
ized. In the States a pit is usually located in some out-of-the-way 
barn or stable, fitted up for the particular occasion, and its location 
scrupulously guarded from the public knowledge. Here they are 
an established institution, and are visited by the best citizens, in- 
cluding frequently those jolly, rotund priests, who can umpire a 
cock-fight, conduct a funeral, or officiate at a wedding with equal 
grace. The buildings resemble in outward appearance nothing more 
than an American farmer's straw-stack, though varying in size from 
those which will seat scarcely a hundred persons to those that will 
accommodate a thousand. The seats are arranged in amphitheater 
form, rising around a space in the center that is scarcely ever more 
than twenty feet in diameter. Cock-fights in Cuba are, as I have 
said, attended by the best citizens, and I note the entire absence of 
the unruly classes that universally conduct such affairs in the States. 
At least, if they are in attendance, they do not make their presence 
known by the unseemly demonstrations that distinguish the Ameri- 
can " sporting man." 

I have not witnessed either a cock or a bull fight in Cuba, but, 
as " an open confession is good for the soul," I may as well admit 
that it has been wholly by reason of lack of opportunity. There 
was a taurine contest yesterday, but I was so unfortunate as not to 
hear of it until it was all over. Otherwise, I should have been 
there. I know this is awfully wicked, but I did not come to Cuba 
as a missionary, nor with the least idea that the visit would improve 
my spiritual condition. I came here for amusement, and there is a 
lingering suspicion in my mind that I could find a reasonable sup- 
ply from which to replenish my stock at a bull-fight. That 's why 
I want to go, and that 's why I am going if I ever get a chance. 
This is not a very comprehensive apology for my wickedness, but I 
am not willing to play the hypocrite by endeavoring to concoct a 
better one. The arena, where the bull-fights patronized by the 
Havanese are conducted, is located at the little town of Regla, just 
across the bay from the city. It is a large circular inclosure, with- 
out roof, and capable of seating perhaps six thousand people. The 
seats rise one above another, at a height sufficient to render the 
audience secure from the dangers of the struggles below. The arena 



424 WHAT I SAW, 

itself occupies a space of perhaps half an acre, and is as carefully 
scraped, rolled, and hardened as a race-track. 

There is to me a peculiar fascination in cemeteries, and when 
visiting a strange city, after studying as minutely as circumstances 
will permit, the modes, manners, etc., of the living people, I love to 
wander through the resting place of the city's dead. A burying- 
ground is really not a bad place to study character, perhaps not so 
much of the dead as of the living. The fitness of a people for an 
appreciative enjoyment of the blessings of civilization is nowhere 
more fully exemplified than in their cemetery. Respect for the 
dead is one of the distinguishing characteristics of human enlighten- 
ment, and neglect is a certain evidence of barbarism amounting al- 
most to savagery. The cemetery of Havana is located just without 
the former walls of the city, and directly upon the sea-shore. It is 
approached through a street lined with the most miserably wretched 
huts of the poorer classes, which gives to the visitor a feeling of de- 
pression that is not lessened by the view he obtains after having 
passed through the thick wall that surrounds the ground, and wit- 
nessed the scene of desolation and neglect spread before his eyes. 
The wealthier classes are not buried at all, but the bodies are placed 
in apertures in a wall, resembling nothing so much as the old-fash- 
ioned bake-ovens. When the coffin is placed in position, being 
simply shoved into one of these pigeon-holes, the aperture is her- 
metically sealed. The process is very simple, and lias many fea- 
tures to commend it. With the poorer classes, however, the dis- 
posal of bodies is different. If the friends of the deceased are too 
poor to afford a " pigeon-hole," the remains are thrown hastily into 
a shallow grave, often without a coffin, and frequently several bodies 
in the same excavation, lime being sprinkled upon them to hasten 
decomposition. There is apparently no system observed in the dig- 
ging of these graves, and often the dirt thrown up from a fresh ex- 
cavation is mingled with the partially decomposed remains of others 
previously buried. With a grimness that to the stranger sounds like 
satire, the Cubans have named this Golgotha " Campo Santo," or 
sacred ground. The visitor, after his nostrils have been greeted by 
the unmistakable odor of putrefying human flesh, which seems at 
all times to permeate the atmosphere, is apt to feel little confidence 
in the sacredness of the place. 

One of the institutions of this city is what is known throughout 
the world as the " Royal Havana Lottery." The object of the <rov- 
ernment in establishing this concern was evidently twofold. First, 
as a means of increasing the revenue, and second, in response to the 
irrepressible penchant of the people for gambling. A Spaniard, and 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 425 

a Cuban as well, is a natural born gambler, and the best as well as 
the worst of them will risk their last penny upon a chance. The 
lottery in Havana is patronized equally by all classes. The leading 
mercantile houses take a stipulated number of chances in each 
monthly drawing, and even the poor slaves often club together and 
purchase a whole or a part of a ticket. The lottery has the reputa- 
tion of being honestly conducted, yet the fact can not be denied 
that it is one prolific cause of the destitution that largely prevails 
among the poorer classes. It is, however, probable that the lottery 
will continue so long as it proves a source of revenue to the govern- 
ment. I have not the least doubt that a system of brigandage would 
be fostered by the authorities, if it could be made profitable. Con- 
science is an inconvenient attachment Avith which the average Span- 
iard will not allow himself to be burdened. 

The volantes, which I have briefly described elsewhere, are 
peculiarly a city vehicle, but nevertheless are sometimes seen in 
the country, and, in fact, provide the only means of light trans- 
portation to be seen. The roads in Cuba are by no means the finest 
that the imagination could picture. They might be worse, but I 
am disposed to doubt it. In traveling in the country, the motive 
power of a volante is usually doubled, the second horse being 
hitched alongside its mate. In case of very bad roads, a third 
animal is called into service, and is placed, not in front, as an 
American driver would arrange them, but at the other side of the 
animal in the shafts, thus forming a team of three abreast. With 
such an outfit the volante bids defiance to the worst roads to be 
found on the islands, the large wheels of the vehicle enabling it to 
overcome any ordinary obstacle with facility. The natives take 
great pride in these carriages, or carts, as they would be called in 
America, and in Havana they are frequently seen finished in the 
most elaborate manner, with mountings of silver, and even of 
gold. The manner in which they are managed is a fitting reflex of 
the listless and indolent nature of the higher classes of Cubans. 
The native will never perform for himself the slightest service that 
can be rendered by a slave. The volante is never driven, though 
one would think the exercise would be pleasant to the occupants. 
Instead, a slave universally bestrides the horse and guides his 
movements, the whole presenting a sight that is ludicrous in its 
absurd awkwardness. 

The Cuban nobility are a strange class of people, an absurd 
travesty upon the titled aristocracy of the Old World. There are, 
perhaps, half a hundred marquises in the island, and as many 
counts, all wealthy, and usually large and successful sugar planters, 



426 WHAT I SAW, 

who have exchanged their doubloons for a Spanish title. I do not 
know whether these titles are hereditary, but I think not. If a son 
desires to perpetuate his father's title, he must pay a sum of money 
to the Spanish Government for the privilege. Cuban society is 
very exclusive, and is graded as carefully as elsewhere, the guiding 
influence, of course, being money. The sugar planters are the 
wealthiest, and throughout the island constitute the extreme upper 
crust of the social pie. They are followed in regular gradation by 
the coffee planters, the tobacco planters, the merchants, and the 
professional men. These latter are considered barely respectable; 
in Cuba, as elsewhere, brains weigh but little when thrown into 
the scale against money. These are the natives. Another distinct 
social class is composed of the pure-blooded Spaniards, who recog- 
nize the Captain-General as the leader of their caste. The Spaniard 
in Cuba is a queer combination of arrogance, hauteur, and ignorance. 
They seem to live only in the faded glory of old Spain, and pride 
themselves greatly upon the purity of their Castilian blood, forget- 
ful or ignorant of the fact, patent to every superficial student of 
history, that the blood of the Castilians has been tainted by cen- 
turies of untold debauchery and crimes against social integrity. 

The ox is largely the beast of burden in Cuba, and the manner 
of harnessing them differs materially from the mode in vogue in 
the States. Here the yoke is placed before the horns, to which it 
is attached at the roots by leather thongs. It is a question, in my 
my mind, if this is not an improvement over the American plan, 
as it saves the chafing from which animals often suffer with us, and 
places the burden where the greatest strength of horned animals 
lies, in their necks. The oxen in Cuba are not as heavy of body 
or as muscular limbed as the American animal, yet they draw over 
the rough roads of this country loads that would be a grievous 
burden to our steers. 

One of the many novel sights in Cuba is the fire-flies, or as 
they are known here, the cucullos. They are fully twice the size 
of the American "lightning bugs," and emit an amount of light 
that is surprising. They are caught by the slaves and children, and 
confined in large numbers in small wicker cages. Thus they pro- 
vide a light by which a person can read without much difficulty. 
Many stories are told of the manner in which these fire-flies are 
utilized that strain my credulity to a dangerous tension. It is said 
that the Creole ladies confine them in little silver cages, which are 
attached to their bracelets, and produce a novel and startling effect. 
Also, that the slaves gather them in such numbers as to provide 
light sufficient for their cabins. I must say that I have never yet 
seen a slave's cabin lighted wholly by cucullos. 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 427 



IV. 



Matanzas and Cardenas — Visit to a Sugar Plantation — The 
Process of Manufacture in Detail — Tobacco Culture — Neg- 
lected Agriculture — "Why Cuba is not more Prosperous. 

Havana, January jo, 1880. 

The past few days we have devoted, with a praiseworthy assi- 
duity, born of curiosity, to studying the peculiarities of Cuba 
among the plantations and smaller cities and towns. On the 26th 
we visited Cardenas, and two days afterward were at Matanzas. 
Both these cities are located on the northern coast, the former, 
about one hundred and twenty, and the latter, perhaps, one hun- 
dred miles from Havana, with which they are connected by rail- 
road. Neither are large places, nor can they be said to be flourish- 
ing, though the latter is a city of considerable commercial import- 
ance. So far, however, as export and import trade is concerned, 
the metropolis commands a prominence superior to all the other 
ports of the island combined. Our journey was undertaken largely 
for the purpose of studying the agricultural modes and resources 
of the country, and it may be that the importance of the various 
cities and villages through which we hurriedly passed was neglected. 

The attempted revolution, which began twelve years since, and 
can scarcely be said to be yet fully suppressed, has been a terrible 
blow to the agricultural resources and progress of Cuba. Hun- 
dreds of the finest sugar plantations were thoroughly devastated, 
and the aggregate production of the island reduced more than fifty 
per cent. This has been the direct effect of the contest. Its indi- 
rect effect is seen in a lack of confidence in the ability of the 
government to cope with the spirit of revolution which, though 
slumbering, is liable to break out again more fiercely and deter- 
minedly than before. This feeling of insecurity naturally deters 
the sugar and tobacco planters, whose plantations are so situated 
as to be exposed, from entering so extensively into improvements 
as they would if the public feeling was one of peace and confidence. 

A visit to a Cuban sugar plantation reveals to the American 
traveler much that is novel and interesting, albeit the first view is 



428 WHAT I SAW. 

one devoid of attractive features until it borders almost upon mo- 
notony. The vast fields of cane stretch out to the extent of the 
vision, unrelieved, except by the occasional appearance of a clump 
of towering palms, or may be but a single tree. The sugar-cane is 
the great source of wealth in the island ; but, for the reason that its 
cultivation requires a vast capital to be expended in hands (mostly 
slaves), buildings, machinery, teams, etc., there are comparatively 
few plantations; but they are of immense area, frequently consist- 
ing of two or three thousand acres. Within the past twenty years 
the mode of preparing the product has greatly improved. The best 
machinery, almost wholly of American manufacture, has been in- 
troduced, and the primitive cane-mill, driven by ox power, is now 
seldom seen. The season for grinding is brief, and at this time the 
scene upon a plantation is one of exceeding activity. Formerly 
the slaves were compelled to labor at the mills for eighteen or 
twenty hours per day, but with the introduction of Yankee ma- 
chinery and ingenuity came greater system, and now upon all well- 
regulated plantations the working force is divided into reliefs, each 
working twelve hours, and enabling the work to go constantly for- 
ward. When the cane is ripe and ready for cutting, it is from six 
to ten feet in height, and about the thickness of a stout walking 
stick. It is cut off near the root, topped, and laid in piles con- 
venient for the carts which follow the cutters, and convey them 
to the grinding mill. The feeding process is very simple, the cane 
being placed in a sloping trough, from whence it passes between 
the immense rollers, and is crushed so thoroughly that every drop 
of the juice is expressed, and the fiber comes out almost as dry as 
tinder. This, after an exposure of a few hours to the sun, is used 
as fuel for the engine which drives the machinery, or in heating 
the boilers in which the cane juice is boiled. The juice is first 
gathered in huge tanks, when it is purified by adding to it a small 
quantity of lime, one-eight hundredth part. It is then drawn off 
into large copper or iron pans, and heated to the temperature of 
one hundred and forty degrees. Any impurities it may contain 
rise to the surface, and after it becomes cool the clear juice is again 
drawn off into huge retorts, where it is boiled. After having 
reached the proper degree of consistence, the syrup is transferred to 
large pans or coolers, and allowed to rest for twenty-four hours. 
It is then briskly stirred, to aid in crystallization, and placed in 
casks with perforated bottoms, through which the molasses, or 
that portion of the syrup that has failed to crystallize, drains 
off. The crystals are then dried in the sun and packed in hogs- 
heads, forming the raw brown sugar of commerce. The process 



AND HOW 1 SAW IT. 429 

seems very simple, yet, at certain stages, a great degree of skill is 
required. 

The sugar cane is usually propagated by cuttings, for which the 
top joints are used. These are planted in rows, three or four feet 
apart, and at intervals of two feet. The best varieties are ready for 
cutting in about ten months after planting, but inferior qualities 
require longer time. After the cane is cut, sprouts spring up from 
the roots remaining in the ground, and thus the cane is self-renew- 
able. This will continue several years, and would render replanting 
unnecessary were it not that the cane decreases in size and juice- 
producing qualities each year ; consequently fresh cuttings are 
planted about every four years. 

A description of the leading industries of Cuba would be no- 
ticeably incomplete without mentioning tobacco. This plant, as is 
well known, is indigenous to America, and nowhere is it produced 
in such perfection as in Cuba. This perfection is owing to several 
causes. First, is the richness of the soil ; second, the advantage 
of the extreme heat necessary to bring the plant to perfection ; and 
third, the great care taken in its cultivation. The value varies ac- 
cording to the part of the island in which it is grown. The finest 
is produced in the western section, and is used in the manufacture 
of what have the reputation of being the finest cigars in the world. 
The cultivation of tobacco in Cuba is not so profitable as sugar 
growing, but pays an average of perhaps nine per cent on the 
investment. 

The other productions of Cuba are of infinite variety, but none 
are cultivated to an extent justifying their growing being classed as 
a national industry. Although Indian corn is indigenous to the 
island, and was cultivated by the aborigines hundreds of years be- 
fore the covetous Spaniard cursed the soil with his presence, com- 
paratively little is grown at the present time. This is almost in- 
credible when it is remembered that two crops can be gathered 
from the same land each year. An enterprising Ohio farmer, im- 
bued with the spirit which distinguishes Americans the world over, 
could, I am convinced, raise in Cuba two crops of corn every year, 
that would average one hundred bushels per acre, each. It is 
utterly impossible for any person who has never examined it to 
conceive the fertility of the soil in Cuba. 

Rice, indigo, and cotton are produced to a very limited extent. 
The civil war in America gave an impetus to the production of the 
latter, but it was of inferior quality, and so soon as the embargo 
was removed from the exportation of the staple of the Southern 
States, the demand for the Cuban article decreased, and has finally 



430 WHAT 1 SAW, 

almost entirely ceased. The rice produced is inferior to that grown 
in South Carolina, and does not meet with an encouraging demand. 

The reasons for this deficiency in the value of agricultural pro- 
ducts are not found in the soil, nor in the climate. They rest wholly 
with the people and the government. There is not, I venture to 
say, in the entire island of Cuba, an acre that is scientifically farmed. 
The implements and machinery in use, except the sugar mills, are 
of the most primitive character. The ground is incompletely culti- 
vated, and the facilities for gathering the crops are such as were in 
vogue two hundred years ago. The average Cuban, with his mix- 
ture of Spanish pride and native indolence, is averse to innovations 
of any kind, and can not be convinced that the methods adopted a 
hundred years since are not well fitted for the present. They build 
their houses after the styles of architecture in the feudal ages, plow 
their farms as their grandfathers plowed them, and gather the pro- 
duct as it was gathered a century since. The Cuban is averse to 
exertion, and will frequently call upon a servant to perform a task 
that he could have readily performed without moving from his 
tracks. The management of households is always placed in the 
hands of favorite slaves, and often extensive plantations are man- 
aged in the same way. 

Added to these disadvantages is the system of government. 
The exact manner in which the Cubans are oppressed and robbed 
by the Spanish nation, it would take many pages to detail. The 
captain-general, appointed by the king of Spain, is a monarch al- 
most as absolute as the king of Burmah, or the sovereign of Ashantee. 
The island has been constantly under martial law since 1825 ; the 
farmers are compelled to pay ten per cent on all they harvest ex- 
cept sugar, and on that article two and a half per cent; over 
twenty-three million dollars are annually levied upon the inhabit- 
ants, to be squandered by Spain ; ice is monopolized by the govern- 
ment; flour is so taxed as to be inadmissible; a Creole must pur- 
chase a license before he can invite a few friends to take a cup of 
tea at his board ; there is a stamped paper, made legally necessary 
for special purposes of contract, costing eight dollars per sheet ; no 
goods, either in or out of doors, can be sold without a license ; the 
natives of the island are excluded entirely from the army, the judi- 
ciary, the treasury and the customs ; the military government 
assumes the charge of the schools ; the grazing of cattle is taxed 
exorbitantly ; newspapers from abroad, with few exceptions, are 
contraband ; letters passing through the post are opened and purged 
of their contents before delivery ; fishing on the coast is forbidden, 
being a government monopoly ; no person can move from one house 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 431 

to another without first paying for a government permit ; all cattle 
(the same as goods) that are sold must pay six per cent of their 
value to the government; every thing is taxed, and there is no 
appeal from the Captain-General.® When all these things are con- 
sidered, and their disadvantages weighed, we cease to wonder at the 
condition of the " Queen of the Antilles." This is the last hold of 
the Spanish nation in the "Western Hemisphere, the last remnant 
of that once powerful conquest that spread throughout the world, 
and the Castilians cling to it with all the tenacity that attaches to 
a memento of the past. So long as the island of Cuba remains 
under the dominion of Spain, there will not be, there can not be, 
any improvement in her condition. Whether independence would 
bring to the island peace and progressive prosperity is a problem 
that opportunity alone would solve. I am rather of the opinion 
that the Creoles are little capacitated to govern themselves. They 
have had no experience whatever in government affairs, and, so far 
as I have been able to learn by observation, are possessed of very 
crude ideas concerning a liberal government. Should the restraint 
of Spain be withdrawn to-morrow and the Cubans permitted to form 
a government for themselves, they would be liable to so confound 
license with liberty that anarchy would ensue. Cuba should be a 
dependency of the United States, and events may yet so shape 
themselves that the close of the century will witness the consum- 
mation of these long cherished hopes. 



*Ballou's Cuba. 



432 WHAT 1 SAW, 



V. 



Farewell to Cuba — En route to Mexico — Yucatan and its 
People — Arrival at Vera Cruz — A Disappointment — The 
Ancient City and its Inhabitants — The Cathedral — An 
Aztec Temple — A Cock Fight — Off for the City of Mexico. 

Vera Cruz, Mexico, February j, 1880. 

After enjoying a farewell ride through the streets of Havana, 
including a visit to the Plaza and a jaunt in the Del Paseo, not 
omitting the fortifications, where our curiosity was restrained by 
the universal suspicion that attaches to Americans, we sailed on 
the steamer City of New York for this port. Our farewell to Cuba 
was made with some regret. The short time we had devoted to 
the study of the land and its people had not been sufficient to 
wholly satisfy our cravings for information. We learned much, 
but only sufficient to be taught that there was much still to be 
learned. We found the people indolent, careless of the future, 
living only in the completest enjoyment of the present, yet withal 
hospitable to the greatest degree. At all times, and under all cir- 
cumstances, our treatment by the natives was most courteous, the 
kindly attentions being at times almost burdensome. With the 
Spanish officials, however, it was different." They can see nothing 
in an American but the spirit of revolution, which they so cordially 
hate and mortally fear. Every citizen of the United States who sets 
his foot on Cuban soil becomes from that moment an object of sus- 
picion. His every movement is watched, and every w r ord that he 
may drop in casual conversation carefully treasured and reported. 
The Spaniard is naturally arrogant, supercilious, and suspicious, and 
when to this is added an inborn and carefully cultivated hatred of 
Americans, they are not the most genial companions to be found. 
The feeling in the mind of a tourist that his movements are being 
watched and his conversations noted, is not pleasant, particularly 
when it is known that these spies and their masters have absolute 
control of the welfare of every person on the island. 



AND HOW 1 SAW IT. 433 

As w passed out from the harbor, through the narrow inlet, 
past the frowning walls of Moro Castle, where floated the Spanish. 
flag over the last remnant of Castilian rule in the Western Hemi- 
sphere, a weak protest against the liberties of the nations whom it 
once dominated, and a sneering insult to liberty in any form, we 
gave voice to the hope that the day might soon come when the 
prayers of thousands of liberty-loving Cubans would be answered, 
and the glorious stars and stripes float over the Castle of Moro, a 
pledge of liberty and a guarantee of the preservation of those God- 
given rights which fit men for self-government. 

Our vessel was one of the pleasantest, and the officers courteous 
and obliging, apparently never wearying of their efforts to make the 
voyage agreeable and comfortable. On Sunday we put into the 
port of Progresso, Yucatan. We had thought of making a visit to 
the ruined cities of this peninsula, but reconsidered the determina- 
tion upon learning that there is a discouraging lack of that personal 
safety which is one of the necessities of individual comfort. Some 
day, however, I may turn my attention toward them, and at my 
leisure study the relics and speculate upon the history and customs 
of the semi-civilized people that once inhabited the land. The 
ruins, which alone are left, indicate that they possessed many of the 
attributes of modern civilization, being superior even to the ancient 
Aztecs of Mexico. 

We found at this port a peculiar-appearing people, being, it 
is said, a mixture of Indian and Aztec blood. They are not 
more than four feet eight inches in height, but of dispropor- 
tionate breadth. They have coal-black hair and eyes, swarthy 
complexions, with docile appearance, but are arrant thieves. 

The country is very productive, producing most of the tropical 
fruits and vegetables in abundance. The principal article of export, 
however, is hemp, the raising of which of late years has become an 
important industry. Thousands of tons are exported annually, 
much of which goes to New York. We landed large quantities 
of prints, hoop-iron, etc., such things as find the most ready de- 
mand among these semi-barbarians. The style of dress among the 
natives is not of the elaborate character that would be welcomed 
in our best parlors at home, being almost universally that provided 
by nature. This is not to be wondered at, when the simplicity of 
the people is taken in connection with the extreme heat. Here we 
are but eighteen degrees north of the equator, and even now, in the 
midst of Winter, the mercury in the shadiest places, marks from 
ninety-fight to one hundred and five degrees. In the sun, it is 
about one hundred and fifty degrees. Exposure to the sun's rays, 

28 



434 WHAT I SAW, 

by a person, unacclimated, for half an hour, would be almost cer- 
tain death ; yet these naked natives move about, and even work, in 
the hottest glare, with seemingly little inconvenience. 

On board the vessel we met an officer of the Mexican army, 
who also is an attache of the government in some important capacity. 
From him we obtained much useful information of the country we 
are about to visit, the routes best to take, etc. He speaks the 
purest English, and, in addition to other courtesies, provided us 
with passes, which he assured us would be recognized and honored 
in any part of the country. These may prove a great convenience 
to us, as we contemplate pursuing a route of travel differing in 
many parts from that usually taken by tourists in Mexico. 

On the 2d we entered the harbor of Campeachy, the principal 
port, and, I believe, the capital of Yucatan. This is an old city of 
perhaps twenty thousand inhabitants, of quite presentable appear- 
ance, and surrounded by a wall sufficiently thick for three horses to 
walk abreast on its summit. This wall is .one of the relics of the 
reign of Cortez in Mexico. The principal article of exportation is 
logwood, although the town has a small trade in cotton of an in- 
ferior quality. We did not remain in port long enough for us to 
form a definite idea of the people, having sailed on the same day 
for Fronteria. This place is noted only as being the point from 
which the Tehuantepec Canal was projected. The isthmus is not 
more than a hundred miles wide at this point, but the project was 
found to be so beset with difficulties that it was abandoned. The 
vessel made several ineffectual efforts to enter the port, but was 
finally compelled, by adverse winds, to abandon the attempt, and 
stood away for Vera Cruz. 

The latter part of the voyage across the gulf was extremely 
tempestuous, and nearly all the passengers suffered from seasickness. 

The first view as you approach the city of Vera Cruz is the 
noted castle of San Juan de Ulloa, that famous relic of Cortez, who 
is said to have expended nearly fifteen millions of dollars in making 
it an impregnable fortress. More millions have been spent on it 
since, yet it has never successfully resisted a determined assault. 
If my memory does not fail me, the American navy battered it 
into subjection in two days. It is distant from the city about two 
miles, and protects, or is intended to protect, the entrance to the 
harbor. The harbor is a reasonably safe one, except during the 
prevalence of a "norther," one of those elemental disturbances 
that strike terror to the hearts of the sturdiest sailors. 

In more than one regard was I disappointed in Vera Cruz. I 
had been under the impression that it was a city of considerable 



AND HO W I SAW IT. 435 

commercial importance, and was surprised when we entered the 
harbor to find it almost devoid of shipping. Every thing had an ap- 
pearance of desolation and decay, and I could not avoid the impres- 
sion that we were approaching a city whose prosperity and hope 
for the future had departed. Yera Cruz is now a city of not to 
exceed ten thousand inhabitants, surrounded by an ancient and 
partially dilapidated wall, from ten to twenty-five feet in height. 
The appearance of the city is not entirely uninviting, the streets 
being regularly laid out, and the houses built almost wholly of 
stone. These latter are scarcely ever more than two stories in 
height. The principal street runs back from the landing a distance 
of not more than two blocks, and is known as the Calle des Cen- 
trale, or, as we would call it in America, Central Street. Here are 
located the principal stores, not more than a dozen in number. 
The peculiar names of stores which I noted in Havana prevails 
also here. My Spanish education has been neglected, but reference 
to my pocket conversation book enabled me to translate some of 
them. One especially struck me. It is known as " The Poor 
Devil." This appellation may be suggestive of the financial status 
of the proprietor, but the sign rests upon the front of probably the 
finest store in the city. The streets are narrow and but sparingly 
provided with sidewalks, and such a thing as a front yard is un- 
known. The houses are built upon the same mediaeval plan that 
prevails in Havana, a portal opening into an inner court of greater 
or less dimensions and elegance, as the taste of the owner may 
suggest or his wealth permit. There are no windows on the first 
floor facing the street. As I have said the houses seldom rise 
above two stories. The reason of this is the same that guides 
house builders in some other parts of the world. The earth in this 
vicinity suffers from intermittent attacks of St. Yitus' dance, and 
houses of greater elevation would be unceremoniously tumbled 
down about once a year. The buildings are constructed of the 
most solid material, which is put together in a very solid man- 
ner. I examined many that were not more than two stories high, 
where the walls were fully two feet thick, built of the largest 
stones that could readily be handled. Occasionally such buildings 
suffer from an earthquake of phenomenal violence, but usually 
they remain undisturbed. All the roofs are level, constructed of 
heavy timbers, securely braced and supported from below. 

Yera Cruz has the reputation of being an unhealthy city, and 
I have no reason to suppose it is not merited. This is owing largely 
to its unhealthy location, being situated on the edge of an immense 
plain, where lagoons and other malaria-producing influences exist. 



436 WHAT 1 SAW, 

In the city certainly every attempt is made to keep clean. Through 
each street runs a tiny stream of fresh water, and not an atom of 
garbage or refuse is allowed to accumulate. This latter necessity to 
cleanliness is not, as with us, secured by statutory enactment and 
the work of the scavenger cart. In Vera Cruz the work is much 
more thoroughly and cheaply done by buzzards. These birds, so 
despised in the States, are almost venerated in this city. The sky 
is sometimes darkened by the myriads of the sable-hued fowls, 
and they pounce down with eager readiness upon any garbage that 
may be cast into the street. They will eat any thing, from a potato 
peeling or a dead cat to a decayed wash-boiler, and can always be 
depended upon to do their work expeditiously and well. The only 
means of conveyance which I have seen, except a dilapidated street 
car line in the Calle Centrale, which no person seems to patronize, 
is the donkey, that patient and much-abused little animal, which 
meekly awaits the reward in the great hereafter, that it is certain 
never to receive on earth. Carriages there are none, the ladies of 
this city differ greatly in their habits from those of Havana. Here 
they universally walk, even attending balls and other places of 
amusement on foot. These donkeys always carry their burdens. 
"Water is transported in kegs thrown one on each side of the animal ; 
charcoal is carried in bags in the same manner, and grass for thatch 
or animal food is piled upon the little creature's back until nothing 
can be seen of him but his feet and ears. 

Although the city of Vera Cruz is a port of no great commercial 
importance, there is an amount of business done greater than the 
first impression would indicate. It is the entrepot of the supplies for 
the city of Mexico, distant by rail one hundred and eighty-five 
miles. These business houses are all in the hands of foreigners, as 
there is a certain peculiarity of the Mexican character incompatible 
with enterprise. 

We went to mass at the old cathedral, built by Cortez, much 
more than three hundred years ago, and were duly wonder-stricken 
by the display of richness in jewels, treasure, and paintings. The 
outer walls have grown gray from the attrition of the elements 
during three centuries and a half. The interior has an appearance of 
ancient richness in color and ornamentation that feeds the eye and 
distracts the mind from the devout services of the solemn mass. I 
speak of the mass as "solemn," but that is more the result of habit 
than the exercise of a care wdiich should lead me to designate things 
as they really are. To my mind there is nothing solemn about a 
mass. There is in the presence of the "host," the studied genuflec- 
tions of the trained priest, the image of the Virgin, and the tawdry 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 437 

ornamentation of the altar, a suspicion of idolatry scarcely consistent 
with my ideas of a worship of the God who said, "Thou shalt have 
no other gods before me." I did not attend the services for the pur- 
pose of participating in the worship. Curiosity alone actuated me, 
and when that was satisfied I could not arouse an interest in the 
religious rites; 

From the cathedral we went to an ancient Aztec temple, now 
profanely used as a storehouse for bonded goods. The officer in 
charge courteously acted as our guide, and we rambled at will 
through its age-begrimed apartments. This temple was erected 
long before the coming of Cortez, and is thought to be not less than 
seven hundred years old. Near the ancient altar, we were shown 
slabs covered with inscriptions, which no one can decipher. They 
are supposed to cover the resting-places of leaders among that 
curious people, whose traditions have formed the basis of so many 
interesting chapters of profound speculation. We went into the 
cells and rooms in all parts of the building, and added our mite of 
theorizing regarding the strange people who constructed it. 

From there we passed to a prison of this date and to a fort. 
Upon entering the latter we were taken charge of by an officer, who 
kindly showed us every object of interest. The armament did not 
strike my unmilitary mind as being very effective. The Mexican is 
very slow to grasp the improvements that lead other nations forward 
in the competitive march of progress. This is true of all we have seen 
in Vera Cruz, and is particularly noticeable in her enginery of war. 
The fort we visited is armed with ancient-appearing, smooth-bore 
artillery, which would be to a modern iron-clad vessel of war no 
more formidable than a child's pop-gun. The small-arms are not 
of the latest improved patterns, the infantry being armed with the 
old muzzle-loading muskets or rifles, and the cavalry with nothing 
more effective than single-shooting smooth-bore carbines and old- 
fashioned powder-and-ball revolvers. The Mexicans move slowly. 
They will reach the plane of muzzle-loading rifled cannon, Eeming- 
ton and Winchester rifles, etc., a score of years after more pro- 
gressive nations have, through scientific investigation, been led to 
adopt something better. The casual visitor to Vera Cruz would 
conceive the idea that it is strongly fortified. The plenitude of grim, 
frowning forts would create that impression, but an examination 
would force him to the same conclusion I reached, that a fleet of 
half a dozen American or English war vessels could knock the 
whole town, forts and all, about the heedless ears of its people in 
two days. 

The cemetery of Vera Cruz called here, as in Havana, Campo 



438 WHAT I SA W, 

Santo, or Sacred Ground, is located a short way without the walls, 
but within easy walking distance — perhaps half a mile. The road 
leading to it is called the Street of Christ, but for what reason I do 
not know. It is lined with the huts of the lowliest natives, where 
poverty and wretchedness abound. Here, as in Cuba, the dead 
are not buried, but deposited in " pigeon holes," in the walls. Into 
these recesses the coffin is shoved, head first, and the orifice is 
closed by tablets, usually of marble, whereon are engraved some- 
times the tenderest words of love and remembrance, exhibiting 
more affection and respect than I had thought it possible for a 
" Greaser " to feel. The area inclosed is devoted to the choicest 
of flowers, shrubs, and trees, and a considerable degree of both care 
and skill are devoted to it. 

Some one has remarked that from the sublime to the ridiculous 
is but a step, and I fully realized this as, after the mass at the ca- 
thedral in the morning and the visit to the cemetery in the after- 
noon, I wickedly and perversely concluded the sights of the day by 
attending a cock-fight. This will probably horrify some of my ultra- 
good readers ; but if they enjoy their feeling of indignant horror 
half as much as I did that chicken fight, they do not need my sym- 
pathies. Besides, they will please remember that I am in Mexico 
as a sight-seer, and not as a missionary. If these benighted heathen 
perversely insist upon sinking their immortal souls clown to eternal 
perdition, there certainly is no valid reason why I should not see 
how the thing is done. I will, however, be considerate enough not 
to describe it. I might tell you how the chickens were armed with 
razor-like gaffs of steel ; how they cut and gashed each other until 
one fell down dead ; how the worldly " Greasers " swore in good, 
round Spanish oaths when their favorite bird was defeated, etc., 
but I forbear. 

To-night, at eleven o'clock, we take the train for the City of 
Mexico. This seems like a strange hour to enter upon a journey 
through a country where our sole object is to see, but unfortunately 
there is but one train a day. Rumor tells us that the road is not 
wholly safe, and that robbers abound on certain parts of the line. 
I have no particular fancy for a Mexican bandit, but as we are des- 
perately determined to go to Mexico, we will trust to good fortune 
and the guard of twenty-five soldiers that accompany us, although 
I consider the dependence upon good luck perhaps the most reliable 
of the two. 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 439 



VI. 



From Vera Crtjz to the City op Mexico — In the Capital- — Its 
Appearance— The Streets, the Grand Plaza, the Palace, 
and the Cathedral — The Aztec Temple of Sacrifice — Dan- 
gers of the Capital — The Virgin of Guadalupe — A Fanatical 
Legend. 

City of Mexico, February 12, 1880. 

The distance from Vera Cruz to this city is one hundred and 
eighty-five rniles, which we traversed safely in twenty-one hours, 
arriving here at eight o'clock on the evening of the 7th, or at the 
rate of not quite nine miles per hour. This would be considered 
very slow traveling in the States, but let me assure you it is fully 
fast enough for a Mexican railroad. I am inclined to believe, how- 
ever, that while one hundred and eighty-five miles is the geographi- 
cal distance, the windings of the road, around and over the moun- 
tains, makes the absolute distance much greater. 

As we will, upon our return to Vera Cruz, about two weeks 
hence, visit, more at our leisure, the cities of Cordova, Orizaba, and 
Puebla, and the country surrounding, I will defer any extended 
mention of them at present, and carry the reader much more hur- 
riedly, and I trust, more comfortably, than we came over the road 
to the City of Mexico. 

The first view of the valley of Mexico is one of most entranc- 
ing beauty, one upon which the eye would never weary of rest- 
ing, discovering new delights at every view, and seeing in each 
shadow and burst of sunlight new beauties and fresh scenes of 
almost bewildering attractiveness. Looking out over the valley, 
dotted o'er with charming villages and beautiful lakes, with the city 
resting like a diamond in a cluster of sapphires and emeralds, one 
ceases to wonder at the enthusiasm of the mercurial Cortez, who 
stood near the same spot and looked upon the magnificence of the 
capital of the Montezumas, and its surroundings. His thoughts 
were mingled admiration and covetousness: ours were divided be- 
tween regard for the beauty of the scene and regret for the three 
hundred years of Spanish rule that had added little or nothing to 



440 WHAT I SAW, 

_ the civilization and progress of the country it conquered in blood 
and ruled with an oppression that left little upon which to build 
prosperity. 

The shades of evening were gathering over the city, and the 
last rays of declining day were gilding the top of the gigantic Popo- 
cateptl, which stands as a monster sentinel over the valley, when 
we alighted at the Buena Vista depot, just without the city. The 
entrance to the city from the station is through a shaded avenue, 
past the Almeda, an extended and beautiful park, and through 
numerous tasteful streets to the hotel selected for our brief sojourn. 

Mexico is certainly the perfection of climate. At this time, 
when the people of the Northern States are wrapped in furs and 
other preservatives of animal heat, I am writing at an open win- 
dow, enjoying the June-like breeze that plays about me, and look- 
ing out upon a garden fragrant with the perfume of tropical flowers, 
and inviting by its umbrageous shades, through which the rays of 
the tropical sun never penetrate. Flowers and fruits are everywhere, 
and the vendors of the fragrant or luscious tropical productions 
greet the visitor on every corner. 

Early on the following morning, a morning which, like all others 
in this climate, broke bright and beautiful, we began a somewhat 
unsystematic tour of the city. In Mexico the tourist finds no guides, 
those necessary evils which the traveler in other countries both en- 
joys and suffers from. Here the stranger must depend almost 
wholly upon his natural aptitude for finding novelties, aided to a 
limited extent by the not always satisfactory directions given by 
the hotel keepers, and the few English-speaking residents. ' 

There is a peculiarity about the surroundings of the City of 
Mexico that can not escape the observation. The valley, miles in 
extent, is surrounded on every side by mountains of greater or less 
altitude. The impression is novel as one stands at the intersection 
of two streets in the city, and, looking to the north, south, east, and 
west, the eye meets in each direction a perspective of mountains, 
among them the towering Iztaccihuatl, with its cap of perennial 
snow. The site of the city itself is as level as if so formed by art. 
The ground upon which the city stands was, hundreds of years ago, 
a salt marsh, and even yet an excavation but a few inches in depth 
will develop a dampness that occupies the midway between water 
and solid earth. Drainage is impossihle, as there is no lower point 
in the valley than the city. This would naturally lead to the sup- 
position that Mexico is an unhealthy city. The reverse is the case. 
At times the exhalations from the undrained streets are offensive, 
and very suggestive of malaria, but the altitude above the level of 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 441 

the sea (seven thousand five hundred feet) is so great that these 
effluvia are harmless. When Cortez captured the city, some of the 
streets were canals, communicating with the contiguous lake. They 
were used as thoroughfares, much as are the estuaries in Venice, 
Amsterdam, and Rotterdam. These were filled in and the water of 
the lake dried up sufficiently to give the city a solid foundation. 
Now the lake, instead of laving the walls of the houses and flowing 
through the streets of the city, is distant nearly three miles. 

The streets of Mexico are straight, and usually cross each other 
at right angles; hut, with a very fsw exceptions, are devoid of 
attractiveness. They are usually named for some saintly old fel- 
low, and in nearly every instance the names have a religious signifi- 
cance. The principal street, or at least the one of the greatest histor- 
ical interest, is the Avenue San Cosine. It leads from the railroad 
station directly into the city, terminating at the Grand Plaza, and is 
spacious and lined with stately buildings. Along this highway, then 
hut a dike, intersected with numerous ditches, the conqueror Cortez 
fled when pursued by the infuriated populace, aroused to frenzy by 
the oppressions of the blood-thirsty Spaniards. But a fortnight 
afterward he returned and fought through the length of this street, 
strewing the earth with the reeking corpses of thousands of the de- 
fenders of the city in his mad thirst for glory, and what he termed 
the "glory of God." Along this street also marched the victorious 
Americans after the sanguinary struggles culminating in the sur- 
render of the city. The most attractive thoroughfare of the place, 
aside from historical interest, runs from the Almeda to the Plaza. 
It is the mercantile and fashionable thoroughfare, though but 
about half a mile in length. It is, perhaps, fifty feet wide, and 
lined with shapely, flat-roofed buildings, scarcely ever more than 
three stories in height. It bears several names, varying, I believe, 
with the section of the city through which it passes, being known 
variously as Calle de Francisco, Calle del Plateros, and Calle de 
Profesa; and, perhaps, numerous other appellations wdiich it was 
not my misfortune to encounter. This street is crowded at all 
hours of the day, with hacks and private carriages, men, women, 
donkeys, and other Mexican beasts of burden, as well as the repre- 
sentatives of Mexican gentility and fashion. The fashionable Mex- 
ican ladies follow the same system in vogue in Havana. They are 
seldom seen in the streets on foot, and do not alight from their 
carriages while shopping, the merchandize being brought out for 
their inspection. 

The feature of the City of Mexico, however, is the Grand Plaza. 
It is about a thousand feet square, and in the center is a tasteful 



442 WHAT I SAW, 

garden filled with trees and flowers, planted by Carlotta, of unhappy 
memory. The government palace occupies the entire eastern side. 
This building has little the appearance of a palace, either externally 
or internally. It is but two stories in height, with flat roof, and but 
little attempt at outward ornamentation. The height of the struc- 
ture does not correspond with its superficial extent, and gives it an 
appearance of "squattiness," to use a homely but expressive Yan- 
keeisrn. It is built after the prevailing style in Spanish countries, 
the building surrounding an inner court. The lower floor is devoted 
to storage of military supplies, and communicates with the street 
through a limited number of heavily barred windows. The entrance 
is through a covered passage-way, leading to the inner court. The 
" Hall of the Ambassadors " is the only attractive feature of the 
internal arrangement of the building. It is stately and grand in its 
immense extent, and contains the portraits of most of the celebrities 
who have added glory or infamy to the Mexican name. 

The north side of the Plaza is occupied with the cathedral. 
This is, without doubt, the stateliest structure on the Western 
Continent, not even excepting the capitol at Washington. Its grand 
proportions rise up from a plateau elevated several feet above 
the level of the square, and can not fail to impress the visitor. It 
may be that my enthusiasm was aroused by the appearance of 
the majestic pile more by reason of comparison with the other edi- 
fices in Mexico than for any substantial merit that the view may 
possess, but both the external and internal appearance of the build- 
ing had for me a fascination that was almost irresistible. We de- 
voted hours to wandering through its spacious interior, admiring 
its beauty of finish, its paintings and statuary, and feeling, if not 
expressing, a contempt for the modified idolatry exhibited on every 
hand. The choir and high altar are bewildering in their magnifi- 
cence. The former is a mass of stately carving and gilding, and the 
latter is a blaze of gold, relieved at intervals by statues in green 
and pink marble, or amalgam. Between the choir and the altar is 
an aisle, along which run two balustrades, composed of an alloy 
of gold, silver, and brass, of great beauty and immense value. At 
intervals are life-size figures of the same metal, holding aloft can- 
delabra. We were sorry that the inopportune occasion of our visit 
denied us the pleasure of witnessing the celebration of high mass in 
the cathedral. Mass in the Roman Catholic Church is to me always 
attractive, not perhaps in the sense it should be, but enjoyable none 
the less. Here the ceremony is said to be peculiarly interesting, 
surrounded as the participants are by every adjunct to bewildering 
display, and before a people who are firm believers in the most 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 443 

ultra teachings of the Church. The railing surrounding the altar is 
nearly always crowded with devotees, who humbly kneel, the rich 
with the poor, before the image of the " Blessed Virgin," and 
silently appeal to her for aid. It is not, I regret to say, always 
prayer for forgiveness of past offenses and supplications for divine 
guidance in the future that go up from this gilded altar. Oftener it 
is an appeal to the Virgin for guidance in selecting a lucky number 
in a lottery, or success in other ventures of questionable morality. 

The average Mexican is a creature utterly devoid of every moral 
feeling. He is as ignorant as a donkey, as vicious and vindictive as 
a hyena, and possesses not the slightest evidence of an ability to 
distinguish between right and wrong, except as an incentive to pur- 
sue the wrong. Here the Roman Catholic Church flourishes in all 
its bigotry and intolerance. The people are priest-ridden to an ex- 
tent that would arouse the sympathy of an intelligent visitor, were 
it not that he feels that the Mexicans, as a people, are sunk far below 
the reach of commiseration. They despise a Protestant, with a 
most unholy hatred, and when to his heresy is added the fortune 
of being an American, there is no limit to the bitterness of the 
treacherous " Greaser." There is something about the composition 
of a Mexican inconsistent with honesty. They are natural thieves, 
and usually add to this penchant for thievery a reckless disregard for 
human life that is discouraging to the traveler. The sun does not 
shine upon a more lovely country than Mexico, but it is cursed by 
the presence of a people whose touch is contagion and whose every 
thought is a menace to civilization, progress, and prosperity. The 
Mexican occupies a position in the scale of humanity very similar 
to that held by the snarling, mangy cur in the canine race. 

But I have wandered far away from my text. The cathedral 
occupies the site of an Aztec temple, or teocallis. This was the 
sacrificial temple, and was composed of five terraces, reaching a 
height of about two hundred feet. The summit was reached by a 
staircase which wound five times around the mound. Up this stair- 
way victims by the thousand were led. At the summit was the 
sacrificial stone, a huge block of red granite, of circular shape, about 
twelve feet in diameter, and four feet high. The victims were placed 
before this stone, with their breasts resting against it. Then the 
priests cut into the chest, plucked forth the heart, and after laying 
it before the god, hurled the body down the sides of the teocallis to 
the crowds below. These accepted the bodies as a blessed manna 
from the gods, and reverently cooked and ate them, a happy com- 
bination of worldly pleasure and religious duty. This sacrificial 
stone is still preserved, in a museum of antiquities, and is visited 



444 WHAT I SAW, 

by thousands who delight in studying the peculiarities of the almost 
forgotten race, and speculating upon the condition of a people who 
combined with the most debased barbarism many features of quali- 
fied civilization. Some antiquarians fancy they see blood stains in 
the peculiar red color of the stone, but to my mind the color is 
that of the original rock. 

The principal park of Mexico is the Almeda, a beautiful 
shaded inclosure, perhaps half a mile square. The trees are abun- 
dant and of perennial greenness. These are interspersed with 
beautiful grassy plats, bordered with rare flowers, and the labyrinth- 
ian walks are lined with stone benches, inviting the weary pedes- 
trian sight-seer to comforting rest beneath the spreading trees. 
Scattered throughout the grounds are sparkling fountains, whose 
cooling waters temper the air, and add to the comfort as well as the 
beauty of the surroundings. The picture is one of absorbing beauty, 
yet it has its dark side. The lawlessness which has for years been 
a distinguishing feature of Mexico, penetrates even this bright spot 
in her capital. One can not walk in the Almeda, even in daylight, 
without personal peril. Robberies are of daily occurrence, and 
even so common as to be scarcely worthy of note. At night, no one 
dares to venture alone within its precincts. Nor is it alone in the 
Almeda that sojourners and residents of this lovely city find basis 
for fears concerning their safety. We hear that a train on the road 
from Vera Cruz was attacked by robbers and the conductor and 
four passengers killed. To-day we took the street cars for a ride of 
three miles into the suburbs. What was our surprise to see a 
guard of soldiers on the car, and to be told that the authorities 
thought such a precaution necessary to insure the safety of the 
passengers. If the traveler can not find safety beneath the shadow 
of the president's palace, where within the bounds of the nation 
can he look for it ? 

Yesterday we went out to the Heights of Chepultepec. It is 
possible that among my readers may be found some who visited 
the spot under less pleasing circumstances, and who clambered up 
its steep and rocky sides when the summit glistened with the bay- 
onets of the swarthy followers of the luckless Santa Anna. The 
wonder to me is how an American soldier lived to reach the summit 
This has been the favorite resort of all the Mexican rulers. On the 
apex is a fortress and a palace, a beautiful place, romantically sit- 
uated, from whence can be obtained a view of the entire valley of 
Mexico. At one sweep of the eyes the complete panorama passes 
before the vision, the city, the lakes, the causeways, the mountains 
stretching away in the dim distance until their outlines become lost 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 445 

in a hazy cloud, that glamour of nothingness that gradually en- 
velops and finally hides distant objects within its folds. Away in 
the dim distance rises the peak of Popocatapetl, which even the in- 
tervening fifty miles do not render indistinct. 

Among other points of interest to the student of history which 
we visited was the Tree of Cortez, a few miles from the city. This 
tree is noted as having been the hiding place of the Spanish adven- 
turer when driven from the city by the followers of Montezuma. It 
is about twenty feet in diameter, and is hollow. 

On Thursday we went out south-east from the city many miles, 
in a gondola, through the canals to the floating islands. These are 
one of the wonders of Mexico. The original formation was weeds, 
upon which accumulated dust, and, finally, earth, until now the 
soil is heavy and firm, producing all kinds of vegetation. These 
islands are moved about by the shifting breeze, and are a curious 
sight, well repaying a visit. All along the banks of the canals are 
Indian villages, built for the most part of bamboo cane. "We saw an 
Indian and his wife step from their bath in the canal to the bank. 
The husband held the baby while the wife arranged her not very 
elaborate toilet. Her clothes consisted of a single garment of an 
appearance so dilapidated that it was evident she must experience 
some difficulty in finding the vents that were originally intended 
for arm-holes. But it was done at last, when the man placed the 
babe on her back, and she threw around her a secondary rag that 
held the youngster firmly in its place. This completed her toilet, 
and the amiable couple started towards the city, happy, doubtless, 
in the knowledge that the needs of their present were supplied. 
These women are frequently mothers at twelve, and are old women 
at thirty. Marriage among them is very simple, and the ties are 
readily dissolved by either party. When they weary of cohabitation 
they seek more congenial companionship, without any special for- 
mality. The division of property is not often a source of difficulty, 
because, as a rule, there is none to divide. 

The domestic animals of the city are various. The horses are 
quite small, but apparently of a hardy race, equal to any ordinary 
emergency of labor. There are some fine American horses in the 
city, but they are so costly as to be beyond the reach of all but the 
very wealthy. A really desirable pair, such as a fancier of superior 
horse-flesh would admire, cost about three thousand dollars in gold. 
An American carriage to correspond can not be procured for much 
less than an equal amount. The cattle are very fine, and I expect 
the beef supplied by the better class of hotels and restaurants in 
Mexico can not be surpassed elsewhere. Donkeys are the beasts of 



446 WHAT I SAW, 

burden, being used almost exclusively in bearing loads, while the 
horses are attached to vehicles. The demure little donkeys can 
carry an astonishing load. Usually paniers are used, one swung 
on each side of the beast, much, I suppose, as has been the mode 
since the utility of beasts of burden was first discovered. These 
little animals are proverbially sure-footed, and will carry building 
material up a flight of stairs. Sheep are not of a superior quality 
in this region, but are shorn twice a year. The wool finds a slow 
market at about fifteen cents per pound. 

I might devote a page or more to a description of the Mexican 
homes. It would, however, be but a repetition of what I have 
written of Cuban residences. They are essentially the same. So, 
also, are some of the habits of the people. Smoking is as much a 
national habit of the Mexicans as of the Cubans. In the tobacco 
stores of Mexico are found only smoking tobacco, the chewing va- 
riety being here unknown. Here, as in Havana, every body smokes, 
the men and boys cigars or pipes, as their financial condition may 
permit, and the women cigarettes. 

North-east of the city, at a distance of perhaps six miles, is 
located one of the features, not only of the valley of Mexico, but 
of the nation. The visitor first notes a group of domes and towers, 
massed together, and looking, at a distance, not unlike the first 
glimpse of a Hindoo tomb. These are the temples dedicated to the 
worship of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patron saint, or to use a 
perhaps nearer correct, if not so agreeable, term, the special god- 
dess of Mexico. The story of the Virgin of Guadalupe reads much 
like some of the Hindoo traditions, and is not a whit less absurd 
to the mind of an intelligent, reasoning person. It is to the effect 
that an Indian, coming over the mountains, seeking for a priest at 
a church built by Cortez, a mile or so from its base, is met by the 
Virgin, who tells him to build a church for her on that spot. He 
flees affrighted to the priest, and tells his tale. He is repulsed by 
the parson, who assumes a feeling of distaste for what he terms the 
idle fancy of the Indian. The latter meets the Virgin twice again, 
asks a sign, has his soiled blanket filled by her hand with flowers 
from the barren rocks, which when placed before the doubting arch- 
bishop are no longer flowers, but the tangible person of the Virgin her- 
self, with the God-child in her arms. In the language of the boys, 
"that settled it." Upon the spot has been erected a magnificent 
church, or series of churches, dedicated to the worship of the 
" Holy Virgin of Guadalupe," and over the high altar is what is 
represented to be the identical blanket, with her form upon it, 
which has become the "coat of arms" of the church. This is the 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 447 

story as it is told to any visitor, with an assumption of sincerity 
that, while it imposes upon the ignorant and debased Indians and 
Mexicans, serves but to add to the feeling of disgust that every in- 
telligent man must experience. I asked myself, when I stood be- 
neath this altar bedecked with tawdry ornamentation and gilded 
paraphernalia of the Catholic worship, whether such semi-idolatry 
is acceptable to our Heavenly Father. My conception of the re- 
ligious duties of humanity causes me to turn with loathing from it, 
and to hope for that brighter day when the worship of God will be 
stripped of its bigotry, and religion be made to partake of the sim- 
plicity of thought and action taught by the meek and lowly Nazarene. 

The cathedral of Guadalupe, though presenting no specially 
attractive features outwardly, contains within perhaps the richest 
ornamentation of any Christian Church in the world. There is a 
balustrade about two hundred feet long and three feet high, with 
each post nearly six inches in diameter, composed throughout of 
pure silver. The hand-railing is from two to three inches wide and 
two inches thick. The candelabra, eight feet high, are of gold, and 
the immense chandeliers of the same precious metal. The robes of 
the officiating priests are of the finest lace, and every part of the 
ornamentation is of corresponding richness. The churches are three 
in number, the lower one of which covers a fountain, which the 
devout are taught to believe burst forth from the solid rock at 
the touch of the Virgin's foot. Here, in the rear of the church, 
is the grave of Santa Anna, surmounted by an elegant and tasteful 
monument. 

To-morrow we bid farewell to the City of Mexico, pleased with 
the manifold scenes of novelty and beauty that have been unfolded 
to us, but thoroughly disgusted with the masses p oi the ignorant, 
debased, and semi-idolatrous people. "We go hence to Puebla, Ori- 
zaba, Cordova, Vera Cruz, and thence, vl Providence kindly carries 
us safely through, to the land of peace and quietude — our home. 



448 WHAT 1 SAW, 



VII. 



Puebla, Orizaba, and Coedova to Vera Cruz — A Bull Fight — 
The Old Inquisition at Puebla — The American Mission — 
Valley of Orizaba — Perpetual Snow in the Tropics — A 
Mexican Circus— An American Planter — Arrival at Vera 
Cruz — Sail for Home. 

Vera Cruz, Mexico, February 26, 188 1. 

During the past two weeks we have seen much of Mexico — not 
every thing that was to be seen, perhaps — but an amount that we 
are pleased to consider amply sufficient. Much of the pleasure that 
would otherwise be secured from travel in Mexico is lost in the 
knowledge that in only a few places is traveling safe. Even the 
streets of the capital are infested by footpads, highway robbers, and 
a miscellaneous collection of bandits that can not be considered 
pleasant companions. At Orizaba and Puebla the same undesirable 
state of affairs exists, and the lines of travel are beset with banditti, 
who hesitate at no crime to satisfy their demands for plunder. 

Our first point after leaving the City of Mexico, was Puebla. 
On Sunday, being unable to find a Protestant Church, and not de- 
siring to attend a Mexican Catholic service, we chose the lesser evil, 
and went to witness a bull fight. As a matter of unadorned fact, 
that bull fight was the leading object of our visit to Puebla, though 
we found many other additional points of attraction during our brief 
stay. Just as we were starting for the scene of the fight, an acci- 
dent befell our guide, which some persons would have accepted as 
an ill omen, and turned back. As he was about to cross the street 
in front of us, he was struck by a passing carriage and thrown 
down, suffering a broken leg. This incident delayed us only so long 
as was necessary to see him cared for, and we were again on our 
way. The price of admission was but little more than the cost of 
an entrance to a circus-tent in the United States. If the reader ex- 
pects me to enter upon a florid description of the manner of con- 
ducting a bull fight, he will be disappointed. Every school-boy has 
read the stories, told much better than I can hope to tell them, and 
they crowd his earliest recollection of entertaining reading. There is 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 449 

no excitement unless one or more men and twice as many horses are 
killed. Consequently, the exhibition we saw was voted tame, as 
there was no one killed. The entertainment the previous Sunday 
was much superior, when a particularly vicious bull killed one man 
and four horses. One exciting episode occurred at the fight we 
attended that was sufficient for me. The bull gored a horse wick- 
edly, and the rider was thrown to the ground. The enraged animal 
started for him, and just at the moment when it seemed the man 
must be pinned to the earth by the bloody horns, his companions 
distracted the beast's attention, and the fellow leaped nimbly to his 
feet, and in a moment was again participating in the sport. The 
crowd in attendance was immense, perhaps not less than ten thou- 
sand, and all enjoyed the cruel sport keenly. I must confess that 
after my curiosity was satisfied it palled upon me and I ceased to 
enjoy it. The sport is cruel and cowardly, and fit only for Span- 
iards and Mexicans. 

In the evening of the same day we attended the grand concert 
given in honor of the presence of President Diaz in the city, and 
had the honor of being escorted to seats by the Mexican president 
in person. He does not speak a word of English, and, consequently, 
I was debarred the pleasure of suggesting to him some improve- 
ments in the manner of managing the affairs of the country. I 
regretted this very much, and the president will probably never 
know what a golden opportunity he missed. 

On Monday we visited the ruins of the old Inquisition, but 
there is little to see, as the ruin is complete, and the only habitable 
part is occupied by the American Protestant Mission, the single 
foothold which Protestantism has been able to secure in the city, 
and this is endured rather than enjoyed by the fanatical Catholic 
bigots. This "nest of heretics" is constantly menaced with violence, 
and is liable at any time to be destroyed by a mob, and the self- 
sacrificing missionaries be put to death. I was told by a gentleman, 
who claimed to know whereof he spoke, that when this Inquisition 
was destroyed, after the French conquest, a few years ago, there 
were taken from the cells four large cart-loads of bones. We entered 
such of these cells as remain intact. The walls are of solid stone r 
four feet thick, and the space within is barely sufficient to permit 
the inmate to lie down. We entered the mission school, and saw 
the few children in attendance. I earnestly hope that they may- 
progress in the good work, and go forth finally as earnest workers in. 
the cause of regeneration, that can only be successful in Mexico 
when the cloud of religious bigotry and intolerance that now en- 
velops the country is dispelled. 

29 



450 WHAT I SAW, 

The story of how the mission came to be located in the old In- 
quisition is brief. During the revolution which seated Maximilian 
on an ephemeral throne, an American resident here suffered indig- 
nities for which our government demanded reparation. In the 
mean time the new government had confiscated a large amount 
of church property, and the Inquisition of Puebla, ruined by the 
French bombardment of the city, was accepted by the American as 
compensation for his wrongs. He sold it to the mission, and con- 
sequently we see "the eternal fitness of things" illustrated by a 
Protestant mission occupying the ruins of a Catholic Inquisition. 

Many of the old churches of the city are now in ruins. The 
French, after taking the fort, were sixty days fighting through one 
street, a distance of half a mile, and the churches suffered greatly in 
the conflict. 

At the hotel we were witnesses to the evidence of the perils 
encountered by travelers in Mexico. An American, a Mr. Green, 
of Connecticut, came in and exhibited a bullet hole in his shoulder, 
received in an encounter which he and a single companion had with 
a band of robbers, almost within sight of the city. They claimed to 
have killed seven, and mortally wounded four of their assailants, 
before making their escape. This part of the story may or may 
not be true, but we have ocular evidence of the fact that they 
had been attacked. This is a good country — to leave as soon as 
possible. 

On the 20th we started for Orizaba, distant from Puebla one 
hundred and fifty miles. As companions we had two Frenchmen, 
one of whom spoke English, and the other Spanish. Thus provided, 
we felt ourselves prepared to talk to death any wandering bands of 
robbers we might meet. We left the hotel at 11 P. M., and found 
the stage to convey us to the depot, distant three miles, accompanied 
by a guard of soldiers. This was not Calculated to favorably im- 
press a visitor with the country, and we were not favorably im- 
pressed. TTe felt relieved to know that there were but a few short 
days between us and the hour when we would shake from our 
feet the last particle of Mexican dust, and depart forever. Much 
of the way from Puebla to Orizaba, the landscape was dotted with 
the ruins of convents, monasteries, and other relics of the halcyon 
days of the priesthood, when the Roman Catholic was the only re- 
ligion tolerated by the laws of the country, and the Church ruled 
the nation and its people with an iron hand. I can not conceive 
how it was possible for the country to be more fully under the 
control of religious intolerance and bigotry than it is at present, but 
I am told that previous to the conquest by the French, and the 



AND HOW I SAW IT. 451 

brief reign of Maximilian, it was as much worse than it is now as 
the present is less liberal than the United States. 

The scenery in the vicinity of Orizaba is very fine, reminding 
me much of the Sierra Nevadas of California. At no time during 
the trip were we out of sigbt of the peak of Orizaba, which lifts its 
snow-capped summit above the surrounding mountains like a gigan- 
tic monument. We observed three columns of smoke arising from 
the sides, but none from the top. 

"We found Orizaba a pretty little town, for Mexico, nestled in a 
valley between towering mountains, and containing a population of 
perhaps twenty-eight thousand. The scenery is not unlike that 
surrounding Altoona, on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, 
though even more picturesque and mountainous. The streets of 
the city intersect at right angles. The buildings are not pretentious 
in architectural display, being usually but one story in height, and 
resembling, from the streets, nothing so much as prisons. Houses 
of greater altitude and less solidity would be unsafe, as the valley 
of Orizaba is the home of the earthquake, where the terrestrial up- 
heavals, often of considerable violence, are of almost daily occur- 
rence. When the visitor has penetrated to the inner court, around 
which every dwelling is built, the prison-like appearance disappears, 
and he finds himself in a miniature paradise, where tropical flowers, 
tasteful walks, and cooling fountains abound. 

There is probably not to be found elsewhere a valley of more 
superb beauty than that of Orizaba, a valley where nature is more 
bountiful, and where the ornamental and the useful are more hap- 
pily combined in the production of a picture of absorbing attract- 
iveness, upon which the eye never wearies of resting. All the 
plants and fruits of the tropics abound, and the eye has but to fol- 
low the clearly cut outlines of the towering peak of Orizaba to trace 
the evidences of the gradual change in temperature from tropical 
heat to the everlasting snow of the summit. As the eye ascends 
the mountain, it notes the temperate climate, such as we have in 
the Northern States, with its hardy varieties of vegetation. Above 
this is the pine belt, covered by a dense mass of these dismal ever- 
greens. The upper border of the tree belt is as clearly cut as if 
controlled by the will of man, and is succeeded by the barren 
region below the line of perpetual snow, where grows nothing but 
moss lichens. The snow line varies, of course, at different seasons, 
and, as it is now midwinter, it extends much below the limit of six 
months ago. That term "midwinter" sounds like a grim satire 
when one is sweltering with heat, and the mercury in the thermom- 
eter dances recklessly about among the nineties. AVe found com- 



452 WHAT 1 SAW, 

fort, however, in turning our eyes upon the snow-cap of Orizaba, 
and permitting our fancy, at least, to be cooled while gazing upon 
the spot of eternal ice. 

It may be that I will be thought prone to exaggeration when I 
say that this valley is the most exquisitely beautiful I have ever 
seen. There are, of course, many attractive scenes that I have 
never viewed, but certainly there is nothing in either Europe or 
America to compare with it. There is an absence of that awe-in- 
spiring grandeur that distinguishes the Alps of Switzerland and the 
Sierras of California, but for the happy combinations that tend to 
form a visitor's conception of an earthly paradise, the valley of 
Orizaba is unsurpassed, and to my mind, unequaled. Nature has 
done every thing ; man, nothing. It is a land where 

" Every prospect pleases, 
And only man is vile." 

Turn from the picture of bountiful nature to the people, and the 
mind loses at once its pleasing impress. The intolerant political 
and religious bigotry, the indolent wretchedness, of a God-cursed 
populace is made more conspicuous and more distasteful by con- 
trast, and the tourist»turns aside to welcome the first means of con- 
veyance to carry him safely from their midst. 

We visited the falls of Orizaba, some three miles from the city, in 
company with the jolly and thrifty German landlord of the hotel. 
The picturesque surroundings invite one to linger for hours. Of 
themselves the falls are not very extensive, but the stream has the 
peculiarity of bursting spontaneously from the side of the mountain, 
and falling in a succession of cascades, from terrace to terrace, until 
it reaches the valley beneath. It is simply a gigantic spring, and 
the water is icy cold. The drive through the tropical woods is a 
feature of the trip of superior attractiveness. 

While at Orizaba, we attended (on Sunday, of course, that 
being the universal holiday in Mexico) a Mexican circus. The 
building was an old, ruined cathedral, roofless, and provided with 
seats arranged in amphitheatrical form. The scene brought forcibly 
to my mind the ancient Coliseum at Rome. The audience num- 
bered several thousand, of whom we were the only foreigners. 
The performance was not materially unlike similar entertainments 
in the States. There was the same reckless, bareback riding, the 
same wonderful displays of athletic and gymnastic skill, and even 
the ubiquitous clown, with his ribald songs and time-worn jokes, 
was not absent. We were provided with seats on the upper tier, 
where we could look out over the ruined wall, and feast our eyes 



AND HO W I SA W IT. 453 

upon the tropical scenes of the valley, and permit them to wander 
away to the snow-capped summit of Orizaba's peak. 

We left Orizaba the next day after visiting the circus, and car- 
ried with us impressions" which will continue through life. During 
our stay we experienced a severe shock of earthquake, which opened 
the doors and overturned the furniture in our room at the hotel. 
During our brief sojourn in the tropics we have learned to look 
upon these terrestrial agitations with a degree of equanimity, but 
certainly not of pleasure. Earthquakes in Mexico are not so much to 
be dreaded, however, as the robbers. I had almost used the more 
comprehensive word " people," and I am not certain that I would 
have wandered far from the truth. A Mexican, to my mind, is a nat- 
ural bandit, and the exceptions to the rule are scarcely sufficiently 
numerous to constitute a distinct class of the population. During our 
stay, a party of ladies and gentlemen procured horses, and endeav- 
ored to reach an interesting ruin less than ten miles from the city. 
They encountered a band of robbers, and were stripped of every 
particle of clothing. They remained in the suburbs until night, and 
returned to the hotel in this condition of primitiveness. We were 
so fortunate as not to be of the party, but escaped only by reason 
of a prior engagement. 

We reached Cordova safely, and found it a pretty little place of 
eight thousand people. We were so fortunate as to be provided 
with a letter of introduction from the American consul to a Dr. 
Harris, an American resident for sixteen years. We visited the 
doctor, and spent many pleasant hours in the company of himself 
and family, an amiable wife and four beautiful daughters. We 
went to their coffee plantation, where are forty thousand prolific 
trees. They grow about five feet high, and perhaps two inches in 
diameter, and bloom and fruit six months in the year. The coffee 
is all picked by hand, and placed in out-door bins, where it is 
allowed to remain until the outer covering of the grain becomes 
loose. It is then hulled by hand, and next all picked over, grain 
by grain. Mr. Harris has a plantation of mangoes, now in bloom, 
besides bananas, oranges, and many other fruits. 

After a short stay, we bid farewell to Mr. Harris and his in- 
teresting family, with much regret, as there we had found and en- 
joyed the first home-like experience since leaving the States. Even 
the large pecuniary profit which they derive from a residence in 
Mexico would be no inducement to me. Constant contact with 
danger has lessened its terrors to them, and they relate the details 
of thrilling experiences with the semi-civilized natives with a non- 
chalance that almost froze my blood. Mr. Harris told me that dur- 



454 WHA T I SA W, AND HOW I SA W IT. 

ing one revolution they remained in their walled house for several 
months. There is no coal in this part of Mexico, and during the 
period of their enforced seclusion they were at times compelled t< 
pay five hundred dollars in gold for a bushel of charcoal. 

The descent from Cordova to the "bad lands," which begin at 
the base of the mountains, forty miles from Vera Cruz, is severa' 
thousand feet. We arrived in safety, with a guard of twenty-five 
soldiers, and to-day are making preparations to sail to-morrow fo. 
New Orleans, the nearest port in. " (rod's country." 



THE END. 



TO TRAYELERS. 



INHERE are but few of the many annoyances 
with which the tourist has to contend that 
equal the perplexity of selecting hotels and routes 
of travel. For this reason the writer of the fore- 
going pages has consented to incorporate as an 
appendix to the work a list of the steamship com- 
panies, hotels, etc., which can safely and profitably 
be patronized. Although these advertisements 
are of course paid for, the author takes pleasure in 
commending to travelers their many excellences. 
He speaks from experience, having been a patron 
of the hotels and steamers either during his recent 
tour around the world, or upon occasions of pre- 
vious excursions. 



COOK'S EXCURSIONS, 

Tours and General Traveling Arrangements. 
THOS. COOK & SON, 

Originators of the World -renowned Tourist Excursion System (Established 1841), 
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Railway of England, etc. 

CHIEF OFFICE, - - Ludgate Circus, London. 

CHIEF AMERICAN OFFICE, 261 Broadway, New York. 

BRANCH OFFICES IN AMERICA: 



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NEW HAVEN, 71 Church Street. 
PHILADELPHIA, 1351 Chestnut St. 
WASHINGTON, 1431 Penn. Avenue. 



CLEVELAND, 119', Bank Street. 
CHICAGO, Sherman House. 
TORONTO, 35 Yonge Street. 
NEW ORLEANS, 35 Carondelet St. 



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Cook's American Hotel Coupons provide best accommodation at any of the 
Hotels on the lftt at uniform rates. 



cooe's ETj-:R,oi=E:^:3iT Totrss. 

TOURIST TICKETS with or without Hotel Coupons issued to Independent 
Travelers by all Routes, in connection with all Lines of Steamers to Ireland, 
Scotland, England, France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Spam, 
Portugal, Italy, Egypt. Palestine, Round the World, etc., etc., issued in many 
cases at reduced rates, and enable one or more Passengers to travel by any 
route, at any date, and do not compel the holders to travel in parties unless 
they wish. Full particulars in COOK'S EXCURSIONIST, with Maps, bv mail, 
10 cents. Address, 

THOS. COOK & SON, 261 Broadway, N. V. 

Manager of the American Business, C. A, BARATTONI. P. O. Box, 161 1 



RUSS HOUSE, 

SAN FRANCISCO , - - CALIFORNIA. 
$2.00 :f>:e:e3 jd^tz: 



Large Airy Rooms and Unsurpassed Tables. 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 



Leidig's Hotel, 



TERMS, - - $3.00 IE=er ID&y. 



A Home for Tourists, with Home Comforts. 

MACE'S HOTEL, 

MERIBJL CALIF ©RMIJL 



RATES, - - - $2.00 PER DAY. 



tfSgThis is the best point troin wlucli to start to the Yosemite Valley, and 
guides and conveyances can be secured at low rates, independent of the stage 
lines 

UNITED STATES HOTEL, 

LOS ANGELES, - - - . CALIFORNIA. 



Unsurpassed accommodations at reasonable rates. 

Recommended to all^Jgf 

rEe-^TES, $2.00 :e=:e::e2, jd^-z". 



WINDSOR HOTEL. 

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN. 

ITA HOME FOR AMERICANS, 

;y=KEPT BY AN AMERICAN. 

Rates, - $3.00 Per IDay. 

SEIYO KEN HOTEL, 

(NATIVE JAPANESE,) 
TOKIO (YEDDO) JAPAN. 

AN EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY JAPANESE HOTEL LIFE. 
PER DAY - - - - - $2.00 

HIO&O HOTEL, 

HIOGO, .... JAPAN. 

B@~FINE, AIRY AND CLEAN ROOMS 

KEPT BY AN AMERICAN. =®a 
$3.00 Per Day. 

ASTOR HOUSE, 

SHANGHAI, - - - CHINA. 

EXCELLENT ACCOMMODATIONS! FAIR RATES I 

8®»The only Hotel in Shanghai kept by an American. 

Rates, $3.00 Per Day 



HONG KONG HOTEL, 

HONG KONG, - - - CHINA. 



GOOD TABLE! CLEAN, AIRY APARTMENTS! 

Terms, $3.00 Per ZD&37-. 

hotel de :s"cr:Eeo:E=>:Eu 

SINGAPORE. 



THE LARGEST AND BEST HOTEL IN THE CITY. 
TERMS, $300 PER DAY. 

EGLINGTON HOTEL, 

POINT De GALLE, - - CEYLON. 



As fine accommodations and service as can be found in a tour 
of the world. 

TERMS, .----- - - $2.00 Per Day- 

S^ZEZLSTCIE HOTEL, 
CALCUTTA, ..... INDIA. 



ELEGANTLY SITUATED ! 

UNSURPASSED ACCOMMODATIONS 1 

^■"XEEaavES, $2,50 r'E^S ZD-A-TT..^} 



CLARKE'S HOTEL, 

BENARES. - - - •- INDIA. 



NEAT AND AIRY ROOMS ! BOUNTIFUL TABLE ! 



TERMS, $2.00 PER DAY. 



IMPERIAL HOTEL, 



LUCKNOW, : - - - INDIA. 



A HOTEL IN A KING'S PALACE! 

RATES, $2.00 PER DAY. 

UNITED SERVICE HOTEL, 

AGRA, INDIA. 



A House with unsurpassed accommodations, kept by a native. 



PRICE, $2.00 PER DAY. 



UNITED SERVICE HOTEL, 

DELHI, - - - INDIA. 



PATRONIZED AND RECOMMENDED BY TOURISTS. 
Rates, $2.00 Per Day. 



JETPOEE, I^TIDI^.. 



A thoroughly Native Hotel, kept by a Native, and the best 
point in India to study the original Hindoo character. 



Terms, $2.00 Per JDe^-y. 

UNITED SERVICE HOTEL, 

CAWNPORE, - - INDIA. 



J^=ONE OF THE v r ERY BEST HOTELS IN TNDIA. 

EARNESTLY RECOMMENDED TO AMERICAN TOURISTS,^ 

ZEEa/tes, $2.00 P=er U&y. 

HAMBLETON'S HOTEL, 

BOMBAY, INDIA. 



ELEGANTLY SITUATED ! 

FINE, AIRY ROOMS ! 

CHOICE TABLE ! 
RATES, $2.50 Per Day. 

HOTEL I)e ST. PETERSBURG, 



Fairness and courtesy to all, with the best accommodations, 
distinguish this Hotel. 

RATES, ------ $2.50 PER DAY. 



HOTEL FLORENZIA, 

KOME, I Tu^_ 3L, -2" . 



CONVENIENTLY LOCATED! 

APARTMENTS CLEAN AND AIRY ! 
TABLE BOUNTIFULLY SUPPLIED! 

Ratks. $2 50 Prr Day. 

De loudrbs hotel, 

PISA, • • - - - ITALY. 



BgLJn every regard a desirable stopping place for tourists. 
$2.50 PER DAY. 



HOTEL De KEW YORK, 

FLORENCE, - - - - ITALY. 



B@ = ,A THOROUGH, HOME-LIKE HOTEL. 

COMMENDED TO ALL AMERICANS. "©a 
Rates, - - - - $2.50 Per Day. 



HOTEL De VICTORIA, 

VENICE, - - ITALY. 



VERY CHOICE, AND IS RECOMMENDED TO ALL. 

$2.50 Per Day. 



HOTEL De GRAND B, 

MILAN - - ITALY. 



85^,As fine a Hotel as can be found in the Kingdom. 
RATES, $250 PER DAY. 

HOTEL OF THE FOUR SEASONS, 

MUNICH, BAVARIA. 



m~A PLEASANT HOME FOR AMERICAlNS.-JSJ 
Rates, $2.50 Per Day. 



HOTEL 80HREIDER, 



HEIDELBERG, - - GERMANY 



EARNESTLY RECOMMENDED TO ALL TRAVELERS. 

$3.00 PER DAY. 

ROTTERDAM, HOLLAND. 

/ 



Courteous attention, with good accommodations at reason- 
able rates. 

^$2.50 PER DAY.^ 



WOBURN HOUSE 

No. 12, WOBURN PLACE, LONDON. 



QUIET, NEAT, CLEAN AND ACCOMMODATING. 
RATES. $2.50 PER DAY. 



PHILIPS COCKBURN HOTEL, 

EDINBURG, SCOTLAND. 



PLEASANTLY LOCATED, AND THE 

BEST ACCOMMODATIONS IN THE CITY. 

$2.50 Per Day. 

CRANSTON'S WAVERLY HOTEL, 

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND. 



A temperance hotel, unsurpassed in pleasing accommodations 
in the city, in Scotland, in Europe, or in the world. 

Rates, $2.50 Per Bay. 

£5g ? =:EI<a.ii3."b-ia.rg- axxd. London Branches.^ 

EGLINGTON & WINTON'S 

OOMMERCIJIL HOTEL, 

BELFAST, IRELAND. 



One of the best hotels in the United Kingdom. 
RATES. - $2.50. PER DAY. 



ANTRIM ARMS, 

PORTRUSH, (Near Giant's Causeway,) IRELAND. 



To tourists desiring to visit the Causeway this hotel is com- 
mended. 

12.50 Per Day. 

JURY'S HOTEL, 

LONDONDERRY, - - IRELAND. 



This is the best house in the north of Ireland and worthy 
the patronage of all. 

Rates, - - - $2.50 Per Day. 

MARSHALL HOUSE, 

SAVANNAH. GEORGIA. 



A thoroughly home-like house, with the best accommodations 
at reasonable rates. 

$2.50 PER DAY. 



%J JL. 



JACKSONVILLE, - - FLORIDA. 



Seekers for health or pleasure will find the finest facilities at 
this house. 

Rates, - - - $3.00 Per Day 



LARKIN HOUSE. 

PALA1KA, - - FLORIDA. 



CLEAN, AIRY ROOMS ! 

WELL SUPPLIED TABLE ! 
Rates, $3.00 Per Day. 

CITT HOTEXj, 

NEW ORLEANS, - LOUISIANA. 



A house liberally supplied with home comforts for travelers. 
Rates, $2.50 Per Day. 

TftEMONT HOUSE, 

GALVESTON, TEXAS. 



THE FINEST AND BEST HOTEL IN THE CITY. 
$3.00 PER DAY. 

HORD'S HOTEL. 

SAN ANTONIO, - - TEXAS. 



The best accommodations at reasonable rates. 
Terras, - $2.50 Per Day. 



HOTEL AMERICA. 

HAVANA.. - - - CUBA. 



A CHOICE HOTEL! 

RECOMMENED TO AMERICANS! 
Rates, $2.50 Per Day. 

MATAJVZAS, CUBA. 



Light, airy and clean rooms, and good table. 
.50 Per Day. 

CAFE De PARIS HOTEL, 

CITY OF MEXICO. 



Good accommodations at very reasonable rates. 

J^" Terms, $1.50 Per Day. _^ 

HOTEL DILIGENCES, 

PUEBLO, - - - MEXICO. 



A CHOICE HOUSE, WELL KEPT. 
Rates, $2.50 Per Day. 



HOTEL De La BORDA, 
ORIZIBA, - - - MEXICO. 



The best house in the city, and commended to all. 

^T°$2.50 PER DAY.^^ 

(Native Japanese,) 

Steamship Company. 

YOKOHAMA TO NAGASAKI and SHANGHAI. 



This line passes through the Inland Sea, which is unsur- 
passed for beauty by the celebrated "Thousand Islands" of 
the St. Lawrence river. FARE, $50. 

PENINSULAR AND ORIENTAL 

Steamship Company. 

From China, to Singapore, Penaog, Ceylon. Bombay, the Red fcea. 

Suez Canal, Mediterranean Sea, Brindisi, Italy, and 

around to Malta. Gibraltar and London. 



This line is unsurpassed in everything that tends to make 
sea voyaging pleasant. 

ALEXANDRIA 
From IIAVAW io VERA CRUZ and NEW ORLEANS. 



Speed, safety, unequalled accommodations and courteous 
treatment. 



Steamship Company, 

GLASGOW TO MEW YORK. 



The Finest and Safest Vessels! 

The Most Elegant Staterooms! 

The Most Courteous and Obliging- Offiers ! 

THE ONE LINE WHERE SAFETY IS NEVER SAC- 
RIFICED FOR SPEED. 

ORIENTAL AND OCCIDENTAL 

Steamship Company. 

SAN FRANCISCO lo YOKOHAMA and HONG KONG. 



Fine vessels, elegant accommodations and courteous officials. 

LBYE & ALBEN* 

ToiiriGts' Agents, 

207 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 



PERFECTLY RELIABLE IN EVERY REGARD. 

ISP" Write for circulars and information. 



THE GREAT CENTRAL STATE OF THE UNION, 

Unexcelled for fertility of soil, purity, mildness and healthfifl- 

ness of climate, beauty of scenery, intelligence, 

culture and moral worth of its people 



I. N. M'CONNELL, 

Real Estate Dealer, 

BEATRICE, (Case Co.,) NEB. 



Large quantities of CHOICE LAND in Southern Nebraska 

for sale. 
Taxes paid for non-residents, and lands bought and sold on 

commission. 

Nettc v s of inquiry promptly and rhferfully answered. 



K KIMBEL, 

PHOTOGRAPHER, 



Beaton Doka, Yokohama. 



The greatest variety of photographs of Japanese 
scenery, people, etc., to be found in the Empire, 
at lower rates than can elsewhere be obtained. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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